India’s young paddlers put up a strong display at the Slovenia Junior and Cadet Open, winning a gold and silver in the junior boys team event and another silver in the cadet girls category.
The India A boys overcame the formidable Chinese Taipei trio while their B counterparts got the better of a Thai-U.S. team to make it an all-India final.
The India B boys, led by Snehit Suravajjula, Parth Virmani and Anukram Jain, pulled off an upset (via a 3-2 margin) by toppling the A team that featured Jeet Chandra, Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah in the title round. Suravajjula began the march for India B by beating the higher rated Chandra 3-2 (11-6, 7-11, 11-6, 2-11, 11-8) in the opening singles. Parth Virmani, however, couldn’t build on the lead, losing to a dominant Thakkar 3-0 (6-11, 4-11, 9-11).
The B team slipped further behind as Anukram Jain failed to unravel Manush Shah in the third singles; he lost 3-1 (11-7, 6-11, 9-11, 10-12). But in the reverse singles, India B was back at the top of its games, with Suravajjula again leading the charge. He beat Thakkar 3-2 (11-9, 8-11, 4-11, 11-8, 11-5) to take the exciting clash to the decider.
Virmani then put up a brave fight to beat Chandra 3-2 (5-11, 11-6, 11-8, 8-11, 11-6).
Around the same time, India’s cadet girls were on the verge of creating history of their own. Led by Mumbai’s Diya Chitale, they got past Korea Republic B in the semifinals 3-1. In the final against Chinese Taipei, they showed their mettle once again before losing 3-2.
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