<p>The junior boys (under-18), seeded third, were expected to win comfortably against their lower-ranked opponents but the second singles between Harmeet Desai and Tanapol Santiwattanatarm went down the wire. <br /><br />Harmeet’s experience prevailed in the end as he rallied to win 5-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-5, 11-8. India’s highest-ranked player in the tournament Soumyajit Ghosh and Sourav Saha won their singles in straight games. <br /><br />“The match was not as easy as the score suggests but we are happy to start on a winning note. We have got a very tough match coming up tomorrow,” said Harmeet on their next match against Hong Kong on Thursday. India had won the bronze in the last edition in Bangkok. <br /><br />However, it was the cadet boys (under-15) who stole the show on the opening day by beating the number one team in their group. Team captain Abhishek Yadav lost the first singles to Japanese Masato Kakitsuka 11-9, 5-11, 15-17, 7-11 but lifted his game in the reverse singles against Tonin Ryuzaki to seal the win for India. He won 13-11, 11-6, 12-10. <br />The Indian girls in the junior and cadet categories also won their opening round matches against Kazakhstan and Qatar.</p>
<p>The junior boys (under-18), seeded third, were expected to win comfortably against their lower-ranked opponents but the second singles between Harmeet Desai and Tanapol Santiwattanatarm went down the wire. <br /><br />Harmeet’s experience prevailed in the end as he rallied to win 5-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-5, 11-8. India’s highest-ranked player in the tournament Soumyajit Ghosh and Sourav Saha won their singles in straight games. <br /><br />“The match was not as easy as the score suggests but we are happy to start on a winning note. We have got a very tough match coming up tomorrow,” said Harmeet on their next match against Hong Kong on Thursday. India had won the bronze in the last edition in Bangkok. <br /><br />However, it was the cadet boys (under-15) who stole the show on the opening day by beating the number one team in their group. Team captain Abhishek Yadav lost the first singles to Japanese Masato Kakitsuka 11-9, 5-11, 15-17, 7-11 but lifted his game in the reverse singles against Tonin Ryuzaki to seal the win for India. He won 13-11, 11-6, 12-10. <br />The Indian girls in the junior and cadet categories also won their opening round matches against Kazakhstan and Qatar.</p>