The Indian girls’ team bagged the gold medal, edging out Serbia 3-2 in the final of the Slovak Junior ITTF Open table tennis championship in Senec, Slovakia on Friday.
Fifteen-year-old Sutirtha Mukherjee played a key role in the summit clash, winning two crucial matches. India blanked Turkey 3-0 in the semifinal while Serbia overcame Italy 3-1. The Indian boys’ team had to settle for silver, losing to Czech Republic 3-2.
The results (final): Boys: Czech Republic bt India 3-1 (David Reitspies bt Sudanshu Grover 11-3, 11-8, 11-9; Jakub Seibert bt Abhishek Yadav 11-9, 11-8, 11-6; Pavlik Tibor lost to Rohit Rajasekhar 7-11, 11-7, 12-10, 13-15, 7-11; Reitspies bt Yadav 13-15, 11-4, 11-9, 11-7).
Girls: India bt Serbia 3-2 (Manika Batra bt Anna Fenyvesi 7-11, 3-11, 11-4, 11-4, 15-13; Sutirtha Mukherjee bt Aneta Maksuti 8-11, 11-5, 11-9, 7-11, 11-7; Reeth Rishya lost to Viktoria Truzsinzki 9-11, 8-11, 5-11; Manika lost to Maksuti 8-11, 7-11, 6-11; Sutirtha bt Anna 8-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-2, 16-14).