G. Sathiyan, Reeth Tennison and Pankaj Vishwakarma rose to the occasion and played well above their rankings to provide a golden glitter to the campaigns of India ‘B' in three sections of the $10,000 ITTF Global Junior Circuit Indian Open table tennis championship here on Thursday.
India ‘B', in no way weaker than India ‘A' following the last-minute reshuffle on Tuesday to balance the two teams, completed a 3-2 triumph with Sathiyan pulling off his two singles matches before Sourav Saha overpowered higher-ranked Harmeet Desai in the decider.
After the Indian team monopolised the final berths in the junior section by knocking out Chinese Taipei and Thailand from the fray, the point of interest was whether the clashes between the two home teams could produce a surprise or two. It turned out to be the day of India ‘B' as India ‘A', virtually assured of the cadet girls' title on Wednesday, could not add any more gold.
Biggest surprise
Reeth continued her fine form and made the mockery of world junior rankings to produce the biggest surprise of the competition. Ranked 224 in world junior rankings, Reeth knocked out a vastly improved World junior No. 28 Manika Batra to set the course of a stunning 3-0 victory for India ‘B' over India ‘A'.
Indian teams monopolised all final spots in the team championships Reeth Tennison shocked World junior No. 28 and currently the country's most promising prospect Manika Batra to set the stage for India ‘B' surprise 3-0 triumph over India ‘A' in the junior girls final.
India ‘B', powered by Pankaj Viswakarma's two crucial singles triumphs, also won the cadet boys' title by topping the league following its 3-2 triumph over India ‘A'.
After India ‘A' bounced back from 0-2 to make it 2-2, Viswakarama proved that his victory over Asian cadet bronze-medallist Abhishek Yadav was no fluke and nailed Birdie Boro in straight games to give India ‘B' a memorable victory.
The results:
Junior boys: Final: India ‘B' bt India ‘A' 3-2 (G. Sathiyan bt Harmeet Desai 11-6, 6-11, 11-5, 11-9; Sourav Saha lost to Soumyajit Ghosh 9-11, 7-11, 5-11; Sathiyan and Saha lost to Desai and Ghosh 11-9, 8-11, 5-11, 11-8, 9-11; Sathiyan bt Ghosh 11-5, 11-9, 11-8; Saha bt Desai 11-6, 15-13, 7-11, 11-8). Semifinals: India ‘A' bt Thailand 3-0 (Sushmit Sriram bt Peerapol Kunprasert 11-5, 11-8, 7-11, 11-9; Harmeet Desai bt Max Poungsri 5-11, 11-7, 11-7, 12-10; Desai and Soumyajit Ghosh bt Kunprasert and Poungsri 12-10, 11-6, 11-9). India ‘B' bt Chinese Taipei 3-1 (Sourav Saha lost to Lee Chun-Lin 6-11, 11-13, 8-11; G. Sathiyan bt Lai Yi-Yao 11-6, 11-4, 11-6; Sathiyan and Saha bt Lee Chun-Lin and Lao Yi-Yao 11-9, 9-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-5; Sathiyan bt Lee Chun-Lin 11-2, 11-5, 2-11, 11-7).
Junior girls: Final: India ‘B' bt India ‘A' 3-0 (Reeth Tennison bt Manika Batra 4-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-6, 11-7; Ankita Das bt Mallika Bhandarkar 11-4, 12-10, 10-12, 11-9; Reeth and Ankita bt Manika and Mallika 11-5; 6-11; 11-9, 11-3. Semifinals: India ‘A' bt Chinese Taipei 3-1 (Manika Batra bt Lee Chun-Hui 12-10, 7-11, 6-11, 13-11, 11-8; Mallika Bhandarkar bt Yeh Tung-Yi 11-8, 11-7, 8-11, 5-11, 11-9; Manika and Mallika lost to Yeh Tung-Yi and Lee Chun-Hui 8-11, 7-11, 3-11; Manika bt Yeh Tung-Yi 11-9, 12-10, 11-4). India ‘B' bt Thailand 3-1 (Reeth Tennison bt Areeya Sangpao 13-11, 12-10, 5-11, 4-11, 11-3; Ankita Das bt Piyaporn Pannak 15-13, 8-11, 9-11, 11-2, 11-8; Ankita and Reeth lost to Rattanaporn Rattanavongsa and Pannak 9-11, 3-11, 10-12; Ankita bt Arreya Sangpao 7-11, 11-9, 10-12, 11-6, 12-10).
Cadet boys:League: India ‘B' bt India ‘A' 3-2 (Utkarsh Gupta bt Birdie Boro 11-7, 13-11, 9-11, 11-8; Pankaj Vishwakarma bt Abhishek Yadav 11-7, 8-11, 3-11, 11-3, 11-2; Gupta and Lalhunhlau X lost to Boro and Lalrin Puia 11-8, 11-9, 5-11, 11-13, 11-13; Gupta lost to Yadav 5-11, 6-11, 14-16; Vishwakarma bt Boro 11-6, 11-4, 13-11); India ‘A' bt Nepal 3-0; India ‘B' bt Nepal 3-0; Sri Lanka bt Nepal 3-1; Sri Lanka bt Bangladesh.
Standings: 1. India ‘B', 2. India ‘A', 3. Sri Lanka, 4. Nepal, 5. Bangladesh. Cadet girls:League: India ‘A' bt Sri Lanka 3-0; India ‘B' bt Nepal 3-0. Standings: 1. India ‘A', 2. India ‘B', 3. Sri Lanka, 4. Nepal.
