Paddlers Gupta, Shah, Malik shine at India Open

Ishita Gupta topped group one in the cadet girls singles event while Manush Shah and Yashansh Malik qualified for the main draw in the cadet boys' section of the ITTF 2016 India Junior and Cadet Open Table Tennis Championships here on Friday.

There was, however, no respite for the hosts in other categories with Chinese Taipei's junior boys and girls doing exceedingly well to leave India yet again fighting for the lesser medals.

In cadet girls category, three of the four Chinese Taipei competitors topped their group to enter the quarter-finals. Their fourth girl Huang Yu-Jie did, however, qualify only to finish second in group 1 behind Gupta.

This would mean, once again, the Indians could be at the receiving end from the Taipei girls who have been dominating the show so far after winning all team gold medals on offer on Thursday. With two from each group qualifying, the presence of Indians could not be denied.

In cadet boys, Shivjit Lamba put up an impressive show to beat Alberto 3-2 but he could not qualify for the main draw as the second spot in group 1 was taken by Sohan Pandya who, after losing to Tai Ming-Wei of Taipei, won both his matches against Alebrto and Shivjit.

Pandya beat Alberto 3-1 but it was the match against Shivjit in round two which helped him make the cut. After the two had fought it off well taking alternative games, the matter came to the decider. And Sohan, keeping a good grip over his opponent, won 11-6, 8-11, 11-0, 9-11, 11-7.

In a tough first round match in group 1 of the junior girls' section, Chang Ju-Chia of Taipei outwitted her teammate Huang Yu-Jie 10-12, 11-8, 8-11, 11-9, 11-6 while India's Parth Virmani's 6-11, 11-6, 11-9, 8-11, 4-11 loss to Taiepi's Tai Ming-Wei in the first round of the junior boys's category also kept everyone interested.

With the Taipei players ruling the roost here, the interest of the local crowd was confined to those contests where only the Indians involved. For instance, the first round match in cadet girls between Vanshika Bhargava and Tamini Sirtani went the full distance with Vanshika from Delhi winning 4-11, 11-8, 13-11, 8-11, 12-11.

In the cadet boys category, Anukaram Jain, played well, but his opponent Huang proved to be a hard nut to crack as the latter won 9-11, 11-6, 1-11, 11-4, 13-11 in round one.

--IANS

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