Payas-Yashaswini pair wins mixed doubles gold at Asian Junior TT

The Indian pair won 11-9, 11-1, 10-12, 7-11, 11-8 against Chinese duo of Han Xinyuan and Qin Yuxuan.

Payas Jain and Yashaswi Ghorpade pose on the podium after winning the mixed doubles gold in the 26th Asian junior table tennis championship in Vientiane, Laos, on Tuesday.  | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Payas Jain and Yashaswini Ghorpade capped India’s campaign by winning the mixed doubles gold medal in the Asian junior table tennis championship at Vientiane, Laos, on Tuesday.

Payas, a member of the bronze medal-winning boys team and doubles team, and Yashaswini defeated China’s Han Xinyuan and Qin Yuxuan 11-9, 11-1, 10-12, 7-11, 11-8 to emerge as India’s first champion combination in this age-group continental championship.

The top seeded Indians squandered a match-point at 10-9 in the third set and four more after leading 10-4 in the decider. The Chinese pair fought valiantly from the brink of defeat to save five match-points in the match.

There was a mix of relief and joy for the Indians when, on the sixth match-point, Qin Yuxuan, the eventual singles champion, netted a return.

Earlier, Yashaswini reached the singles semifinals to claim a bronze, just like Payas and Yashansh Malik did in boys doubles. In the team championship, the Indian boys made it to the semifinals and lost to Japan 2-3 for the bronze medal. The girls finished fifth.