New Delhi, June 18 (IANS) India, as expected, claimed both the Junior Boys and Cadet Girls team championship titles at the South Asian Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Championships at the Talkatora Stadium here on Thursday.
With just five teams in fray in the Junior Boys section, the Indian paddlers kept a clean slate winning all four matches without dropping a set, to retain the team title. Similarly, the Cadet Girls too performed as expected and won all their matches without a hiccup to complete the formalities.
Sri Lanka’s Junior Boys won silver and Pakistan, who finished third and Maldives behind them, will get the bronze. Sri Lanka also got the silver in Cadet Girls category while Nepal, who ended third, and Pakistan will get the bronze medals.
The Junior Boys’ team, comprising Lalrinpuia, Utkarsh Gupta and Ravindra Kotiyan, first beat Pakistan 3-0 and followed it up with another 3-0 triumph over Nepal. Though it was a foregone conclusion, what was not expected was Maldives beating Pakistan 3-2.
The tiny island nation, with promising young paddlers in their ranks, carved out a morale boosting win over Pakistan. Naseem Seesth was the star performer as he downed Nazir Muhammad Abdullah 11-9, 11-5, 11-6 in the second singles and then accounted for Abid Iqbal for a 10-12, 15-13, 11-9, 14-12 tough win in the second singles.
However, it was left to Maizar Adam Zahir who triumphed over Nazir Muhammad in the crucial fifth rubber to turn the tide in favour of Maldives.
In Cadet Girls, India had a complete control over Nepal but struggled a bit against Sri Lanka, particularly in doubles where Archana was combining with Varuni Jaiswal, to begin with.
After losing the first game by the minimum point at 9-11, the Indian duo came into its groove to thump the Lankan pair of Hansani Kapoogikiyana and Thanushi Rodrigo, a doubles specialist. That was the only glitch but otherwise the Indian domination was complete.
Results:
Junior Boys: India bt Pakistan 3-0 (Lalrinpuia bt Abid Iqbal 11-7, 11-8, 11-8, Utkarsh Gupta bt Obaid Syed Shah 11-9, 11-6, 11-9, Ravindra Kotiyan bt Nazir Mohd Abdullah 11-5, 11-9, 11-6), Sri Lanka bt Nepal 3-0 (Krish Kramrathne bt Subodh Limbu 11-4, 11-9, 9-11, 11-5, Uday Imesh bt Diken Maharjan 12-10, 11-8, 11-7), India bt Nepal 3-0 (Lalrinpuia bt Mahabir Choudhary 11-4, 11-7, 11-4, Sanish Ambedkar bt Subodh Limbu 11-3, 11-4, 11-9, Ravindra Kotiyan bt Diken Maharjan 15-13, 11-3, 11-6), Maldives bt Pakistan 3-2 (Maizar Adam Zahir lost to Abid Iqbal 5-11, 5-11, 11-7, 9-11, Nazeem Zeesth bt Nazir Mohd Abdullah 11-9, 11-5, 11-6, Ahmed Maadh lost to Obaid Syed Shah 8-11, 7-11, 7-11, Naseem Zeesth bt Abid Iqbal 10-12, 15-13, 11-9, 14-12, Maizar Adam Zahir bt Nazir Mohd Abdullah 11-8, 11-8, 11-9).
Cadet Girls: India bt Nepal 3-0 (Archana Kamath bt Sukriti Shreshtha 11-2, 11-6, 11-2, Varuni Jaiswal bt Dekshya Tamang 11-4, 11-2, 11-2, Archana/Srushthi Helangadi bt Dekshya/Sukriti 11-6, 11-8, 11-2), Sri Lanka bt Maldives 3-0 (Hansan Kapoogikiyana bt Laisa Ismail Fathuhulla 11-5, 11-6, 11-3, Imesha Desilva bt Aishath Nazim Rafa 11-7, 11-6, 11-2, Hansani/Thanushi Rodrigo bt Laisa Ismail/Aishath Nazim 11-8, 11-5, 11-3), India bt Sri Lanka 3-0 (Archana Kamath bt Imesha Desilva 11-4, 11-4, 11-1, Srushthi Helangadi bt Hansani Kapoogikiyana 11-3, 11-4, 11-8, Archana/Varuni Jaiswal bt Hansani/Thanushi Rodrigo 9-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-8), Nepal bt Pakistan 3-0 (Dekshya Tamang bt Hareem Ali Anwar 11-9, 11-6, 11-1, Sukriti Shreshtha bt Kainat Malik 11-6, 8-11, 11-4, 14-12, Dekshya/Sukriti bt Hareem/Kainath 11-9, 15-13, 11-4).