India wins 13 Gold, 3 Silver in South Asian Youth Table Tennis Championship

The qualification event for this year’s Youth Asian Championships saw the Indian contingent dominate across various categories yesterday.

Hyderabad: India ended its campaign at the South Asian Youth Table Tennis Championship in Kathmandu (Nepal) with an impressive haul of 13 gold and three silver medals.

The qualification event for this year’s Youth Asian Championships saw the Indian contingent dominate across various categories yesterday.

India clinched three gold medals in the under-19 girls, under-15 boys, and under-15 girls team events. The Indian players also made a clean sweep of all six doubles gold medals in the under-19 and under-15 categories, including mixed doubles events.

Further, India secured four singles gold medals across the under-19 boys and girls sections.

However, the hosts Nepal claimed one gold in the under-19 boys team category. Despite a lone loss to Pakistan in the five-team league phase, Nepal finished on top with seven points, securing three wins and edging out Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, who took second and third places, respectively.

India, having already qualified for the Youth Asian Championships last year, was not required to field its main squad in the qualification competition.

Team Event Highlights
Under-19 Girls:
Pritha Vartikar, Ananya Chande, Hardee Patel, and Diya Bramhachary clinched the gold, defeating Nepal 3-1.

Under-15 Girls:
Prateeti Paul, Aarushi Nandi, Advika Arawal, and Tanmayee Saha dominated Sri Lanka with a 3-0 victory.

Under-15 Boys:
Atharva Nawrnge, Vishruth Ramakrishnan, Akash Rajavelu, and Prateek Tulsani won all their league-phase matches to top the group and remain undefeated for the gold.

Singles Finals
Under-19 Boys’ Singles:
Kushal Chopda defeated fellow Indian R. Balamurugan 3-1 to claim the gold.

Under-19 Girls’ Singles:
Ananya Chande overcame teammate Pritha Vartikar 3-1 for the title.

Under-15 Boys’ Singles:
Vishruth Ramakrishnan edged Muham Abdal Khan 3-2 in a thrilling final.

Under-15 Girls’ Singles:
Prateeti Paul beat compatriot Aarushi Nandi 3-1 to clinch the gold.

Doubles Finals
Under-19 Boys’ Doubles:
Preysh Raj Suresh and Naman Bhatnagar defeated Nepal’s Gananjaya Dahal and Prabesh Basnet 3-1.

Under-19 Girls’ Doubles:
Pritha Vartikar and Ananya Chande overcame Nepal’s Evana Thapa and Bianca Rai 3-1 to win gold.