Indian teams shine on opening day

Indian paddlers dominated the opening day of South Asian Junior Table Tennis Championships on Wednesday winning the gold medal in junior girls and cadet boys team categories at Talkatora stadium.

In the junior girls’ category, the Indian team comprising Shruti Amruthe, Akula Sreeja, Rony Maria and Selvakumar Selena Deepti blanked Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to ensure the team a gold. The cadet boys team featuring Manav Thakkar, Manush Shah and Parth Viramani drubbed Nepal and Sri Lanka, beating them 3-0, while they got a walkover from Pakistan.

In the junior boys and cadet girls team categories also the Indians performed exceptionally well and ensured that the hosts led the points table after the opening day’s  fixtures. In the sub-junior category, Indian girls blanked Pakistan 3-0 and sub-junior boys steamrolled Nepal by the same margin. In the afternoon session the girls continued their impressive run and comfortably beat Sri Lanka too 3-0.

The junior boys' team led by Utkarsh Gupta, Lalrinpuia and Kotiyan Ravindra Tarnath were too good for Sri Lanka and Maldives, winning both the rounds 3-0.

Results (only India): Junior Girls: India bt Nepal 3-0 (Shruti Amruthe bt Norden Tamang 11-7, 11-8, 11-5, Sreeja Akula bt Renuka Rana Magar 11-4, 11-3, 11-3, Maria Rony bt Rupa Limbu 11-4, 11-6, 11-1); India bt Pakistan 3-0 (Sreeja Akula bt Fawa Arif 11-9, 11-3, 11-3, Shruti Amruthe bt Anam Ilayas 11-5, 11-6, 11-5, Selena Deepthi bt Heleema Ali Sheikh 11-4, 11-6, 11-5); India bt Sri Lanka 3-0 (Sreeja Akula bt Priyadarshini STM 15-13, 11-3, 11-2, Shrutri Amruthe bt Ruvin Kanangora 11-3, 11-4, 11-8, Maria Rony Ridhmi D. 13-11, 11-3, 11-6).

Cadet Boys: India bt Nepal 3-0 (Manush Shah bt Shreshta Santoo 11-6, 11-4, 11-4, Manav Thakkar bt Ritiz Joshi 11-6, 11-4, 11-6, Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah bt Santoo and Joshi 11-6, 11-5, 12-10), India bt Sri Lanka 3-0 (Manush Shah bt Virinka Hendahewa 11-5, 11-7, 11-7, Manav Thakkar bt P. Dishanka Thanakon 11-3, 11-9, 6-11, 11-8, Parth Virmani and Manav Thakkar bt Virinka Hendahewa and Nimesh Ranchgoda 11—9, 11-7, 11-13, 11-5); India w/o Pakistan.