Storming the front, the Indian Junior Table Tennis team won four Gold medals on the final day of ITTF 2016 India Junior and Cadet Open Table Tennis Championships in Indore. With the medals India stands in the second place of the medal chart, only to be bested by Taipei’s five-medal haul.
Manav Thakkar, Varuni Jaiswal and Ishita Gupta secured the singles games and won three Gold medals. The Indian team also picked up the Junior Boys Doubles title hence securing another Gold. Apart from the Gold medals, the team also won one Silver and five Bronze medals in the tournament.
The Surat Born Junior Indian International Manav Thakkar’s attacking approach paid off as he defeated Tai Ming Wei to the double Gold. Thakkar overcame his Taipei opponent with a win in the crucial sixth game 4-3.
In the Junior Girls section, the Indian starlet Varuni Jaiswal went down early in the game 0-3 to make an astonishing comeback. "Timeout was the turning point," – said Varuni.”I knew I was very much in the game and I told myself that I should win the medal for the country," – she added.
Also read: Indian junior TT players create history, win bronze in Asian School Table Tennis championships
The Taipei coach Yang Chia En was also handed a red card for the repeated offence of illegal advice which helped Varuni Jaiswal in her win against her opponent.
Delhi-born Ishita Gupta was another name that did well in the tournament. In Cadet Girls, Gupta won against Huang Yu-Jie and added the second Gold medal to the tally of the Indian side
Indian sensation Sreeja Akula was knocked out against Varuni Jaiswal. The duo from Telangana, knowing each other’s game well, had a great battle and in the end, it was Varuni who ended up winning 4-3 against her compatriot.
In the Cadet Boys section, Manush Shah won against Huang Hung-Chou 3-2 and went on to the final.
