Defeat for three Indians on Day 1 of World Jr Circuit Finals

On a tough day for the Indian paddlers, all three in the fray, including national champion Siddhesh Pandey, suffered defeats on the opening day of the ITTF World Junior Circuit Finals here today.
Competing in junior boys Group 2, 15th seed Pandey suffered a tame 4-11 9-11 5-11 3-11 defeat against eighth seed Helshan Weerasinghe of England.
Mudit Dani met a similar fate in Group 1 as he lost 3-11 5-11 9-11 4-11 to seventh seed American Zhang Kai.
In the girls event, Archana Girish Kamat lost 2-4 (11-3 1-11, 8-11, 3-11, 7-11, 5-11) to Romanian rival Andreea Dragoman.
The Romanian was a tricky player and she seized the opportunity quickly to go up.

Though Archana tried to win the fifth game, it proved to be very difficult for the Indian as she failed to counter her flicks when returned short and those powerful forehands.
Meanwhile, 12th seed Korean Seri Park surprised third seed Zhu Chengzhu of Hong Kong with a 4-2 win in group 3 while in another match in the same group, 14th seed Angela Guan shocked sixth-seeded Brazilian Bruna Takahashi by a similar margin of triumph.