Indian paddlers strike gold in South Asian youth table tennis

ITANAGAR: As expected, it was a perfect 10 for the Indian paddlers in the individual events.

India took complete control of the South Asian youth table tennis proceedings, winning all the gold medals on offer on the final day at the Dorjee Khandu Indoor Stadium in Itanagar on Wednesday.

Indians also won four silver medals in singles.

Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Maldives were also among the medalists, while Bhutan, which only participated in singles, came up short, the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) said.

On the second day of the championship, Indians won three gold medals in U-15 boys, U-19 girls and U-15 girls, while Nepal won the U-19 boys gold.

In the under-19 boys’ singles, Ankur Bhattacharjee defeated Payas Jain 4-2 to clinch the gold.

The match had all the excitement of a final, befitting the occasion.

Both boys played aggressively and indulged in long rallies. But Ankur proved to be the better player on the day as Payas had to catch up to their rival after Ankur’s 3-1 lead.

The Delhi paddler managed to take the fifth game but in the sixth game Ankur closed it out with minimal points to wrap up the final especially after Payas’ backhand flicks failed to come off in crucial situations.

In the competition, gold in under-19 girls’ singles was won by Suhana Saini, who defeated Yashaswini Ghorpade 4-1 in a one-sided final.

Yashaswini was off color and could never pick Suhana’s treacherous serve as the former netted more often offering negative points to Suhana.

In the under-19 girls’ doubles, Yashaswini and Suhana teamed up to defeat Maldivian Mishka Ibrahim and Fathimath Dheema Ali 3-0 to win the gold.

Similarly, the Indian duo of Divyansh Srivastava and Jash Modi ousted Ridoy Mohutass Ahmed and Bawn Rahim Lian to win the Boys’ doubles 3-0.

In the U-15 boys’ singles, Priyanuj Bhattacharya beat PB Abhinand 3-1, while in the U-15 girls’ singles, Jennifer Varghese defeated Avisha Karmakar 3-1 in the final.

In the girls section, Jennifer Varghese and Avisha Karmakar defeated Sushmita Khadka and Subhashree Shrestha of Nepal to reach the podium.

In the mixed doubles, Payas Jain and Yashaswini won the gold, defeating their Maldivian rivals Akhyar Ahmed Khalid and Fathimath Dheema Ali, while the pair of PB Abhinand and Jennifer Varghese overcame Sri Lanka’s Mohamed Akram Shafiullah and Kavindya Tamadi for the gold.

Later, attending the closing ceremony, Arunachal Pradesh Governor KT Parnaik felicitated all the medal winners.

The governor stated that SAYTTC 2023 has ignited the minds and imagination of the youth of the state to participate in the great sport.

Emphasizing the importance of games and sports, he said: Sports build team spirit, willpower, ability to face challenges and promote friendship.

The state is honored and privileged to host the event and is a harbinger of Arunachal Pradesh finding its rightful place in the sports mosaic of our country, added the Governor.

In a memorandum sent by Table Tennis Arunachal (TTA), the Governor assured the association (TTA) of a dedicated and permanent table tennis infrastructure with state-of-the-art facilities.

Earlier, Secretary of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) Kamlesh Mehta gave a brief talk about the championship.

Education Minister Taba Tedir, Chief Secretary Dharmendra, Governor Ankur Gargi Commissioner, Sports and Youth Affairs Secretary Abu Tayeng and Additional Deputy Commissioner-CEO, SAYTTC Shweta Nagarkoti participated in the closing programme.

A total of 135 players, including officials from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka and hosts India, participated in the championship.

The event was organized by TTA under the patronage of Asia Table Tennis Union, TTFI and South Asia Table Tennis Federation with the support of the state government and National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Ltd.

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