Indian paddlers win two bronze medals at China Junior and Cadet Open

Singles player Manush Shah bagged the bronze medal in junior boys' category, while the duo of Swastika Ghosh and Prapti Sen lost in the junior girls doubles semifinal against China to settle for a bronze medal.

Manush Shah lost the semifinal match to local favourite Kaiyuan Quan 0-4 (4-11, 10-12, 7-11, 4-11) to settle for the bronze. (File Photo)

Young Indian paddlers Manush Shah and the duo of Swastika Ghosh and Prapti Sen bagged two medals in the junior boys and junior girls team category in the ongoing China Junior and Cadet Open at Taicang, China on Monday.

Vadodara-based Manush Shah led the charge in junior boys category, returning with a bronze medal after going down in the semi-finals of the tournament, which is part of the 2019 ITTF Junior Circuit Golden series, a media statement said.

Manush defeated Takeru Kashiwa 4-3 in a nail-biting finish in the round of 32 match.

He then faced Korea’s Yik Man Pau of Korea in pre- quarter finals and won the opening game, but gave away the advantage to lose the next two games.

Down 1-2, he launched a good comeback and won the next three games to move into the last eight.

Up against the formidable Yuto Abe, Manush proved his mettle and entered into the medal round.

However, he could not keep up the momentum in semifinals against the local favourite Kaiyuan Quan and lost 0-4 (4-11, 10-12, 7-11, 4-11) to settle for the bronze.

The junior girls category, Indian duo of Swastika Ghosh and Prapti Sen won all their opening matches to top their group.

They won by the same scoreline of 3-0 against all their opponents in the group stage, including those from Republic of Korea,Chinese Taipei and Sweden.

Up against the eventual champions China, they could not replicate their initial performance and went down 0-3 in the semi-finals to be contend with a bronze, it added.