Panaji, March 26 (IANS) Singapore A defeated the combination of Iran-Kazakhstan 3-1 to win the Junior Boys team gold at the Indian Junior and Cadet Open Table Tennis Championships at the Mukherjee Stadium here Wednesday.
India A girls made amends for the loss by our boys by winning the Junior Girls title as they exacted revenge from Singapore with a 3-0 verdict in the last league game.
The Singapore’s boys team made a mockery of the Iran-Kazakh combination, but not before Kirill Gerassimenko, who qualified from here for the Youth Olympics Games at Nanjing in August, shocked his Singaporean rival Lim Zheng 3-0.
Before things could go out of hands, Yin Jing Yuan reversed the trend with a 3-1 win in the second singles. Then he combined with Lim in the doubles to go 2-1 up, leaving Yin to drive the final nail in the Iran-Kazakh coffin.
For India A girls, it was some struggle but they were focused well on the day as Sagarika Mukherjee beat Yee Herng Hwee 11-6, 11-9, 13-15, 4-11, 11-8. After that Suthirtha Mukherjee came from behind to defeat Tay Huil Li 9-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-4, 11-8 and then the two Indians combined well to overcome the Tay-Yee pair in four sets of 6-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-9 to stamp their authority.
In Cadet Boys, Singapore A defeated India A 3-0 to be the league table topper and win the gold as the top Indian team had to satisfy itself with the silver. But India B, despite losing to Singapore, managed to finish third and win the bronze. On Tuesday, they had beaten Sweden 3-2 and India C 3-1.
RESULTS:
Junior Boys: Final:Singapore A bt Iran-Kazakhstan 3-1 (Lim Zheng Jie Edric lost to Kirill Gerassimenko 6-11, 3-11, 4-11, Yin Jing Yuan bt Arman Hajiei 11-6, 9-11, 11-6, 11-7, Lim/Yin bt Kirill/Arman 9-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-4, Yin Jing Yuan bt Kirill Gerassimenko 11-9, 11-1, 112); Semifinals: Singapore A bt Sweden 3-2 (Lim Zheng Jie Edric lost to Elias Ranefur 5-11, -9-11, 10-12, Yin Jing Yuan bt Hannes Iwarsson 11-2, 11-2, 11-5, Lim/Yin bt Elias/Hannes 11-5, 11-8, 11-2, Yin Jing Yuan lost to Elias Ranefur 11-3, 10-12, 11-7, 13-11, 8-11, Lim Zheng Jie Edric bt Hannes Iwarsson 11-7, 11-9, 11-4); Iran-Kazakhstan bt Iran 3-1 (Arman Hajiei bt Amiri Nia Soroosh 11-7, 11-6, 7-11, 14-12, Kirill Gerassimenko bt Hamed Basht Bavi 11-4, 8-11, 13-11, 11-8, Arman/Kirill lost to Amiri/Hamed 7-11, 11-6, 9-11, 10-12, Kiris Gerassimenko bt Amri Nia Soroosh 11-9, 11-9, 11-4).
TEAM STANDING (round-robin league):
Junior Girls: India A (gold), India B (silver), Singapore/India C (bronze)
Cadet Boys: Singapore (gold), India A (silver), India B/Sweden (bronze).
Cadet Girls: India A (gold), India B (silver), India C (bronze).
