Indian Junior Girls go Down Fighting to Hong Kong in Table Tennis Championship
World No. 1 and last edition's individual runner-up Doo Hoi Kem lived up to her reputation with a straight-game win over India's top junior Sagarika Mukherjee in the opener before a gallant Ayhika Mukherjee snatched the second singles to draw level at 1-1 at the NSCI's Sardar Vallabhai Patel Indoor Stadium.
India's junior girls stretched Hong Kong as they went down 1-3 in the quarter-finals of the 20th Reliance Asian Junior Table Tennis Championship today.
World No. 1 and last edition's individual runner-up Doo Hoi Kem lived up to her reputation with a straight-game win over India's top junior Sagarika Mukherjee in the opener before a gallant Ayhika Mukherjee snatched the second singles to draw level at 1-1 at the NSCI's Sardar Vallabhai Patel Indoor Stadium here.
Mukherjee overcame Minnie Wai Yam Soo in a thriller as she romped to a 11-8, 7-11, 12-10, 9-11, 12-10 win in a tight contest. Priyadarshini Das lost the third singles in straight games, before Doo Hoi Kem sealed Hong Kong's win with another straight-game victory over Sagarika.
South Korea halted India in the cadet boys quarter-finals with a 3-0 win as world No. 3 An Jaehyum beat Akaash Nath and world No. 8 Kim Dae Woo prevailed over Friday's hero Manav Thakkar. The Korean duo later combined to beat the Indian pair in the doubles.
The South Korean cadet girls also registered a similar 3-0 win over India in the quarter-finals.
Kim Youjin gave the Koreans the perfect start with an easy win over Pune's Shruti Amrute before world No. 8 Kim Jiho beat Naina in straight games but not before enduring an early challenge from the Indian in an opening game that stretched well into extra points.
Youjin and Jiho later beat the Indian duo in the doubles.
Late on Friday evening, India's cadet girls made it to the knockout stage after thrashing Jordan 3-0, while the junior boys, who failed to make it to the quarterfinals, beat Thailand 3-2 to feature in the 9-14 positional matches.
Meanwhile, Korea shocked defending champions China in the semi-finals to set up a cadet boys title clash with last edition's runners-up Chinese Taipei.
Defending junior boys and girls champions China, however, lived up to their reputations and advanced to the finals, with the girls setting up a title clash with last edition's runners-up Japan.
Results: Jr. boys (Semi-finals): China bt Hong Kong 3-0; Quarter-Finals: China bt Singapore 3-0; Hong Kong bt Japan 3-1; Chinese Taipei bt Kazhakstan 3-0; South Korea bt North Korea 3-0.
Jr. girls (Semi-finals): China bt Korea 3-0; Japan bt Hong Kong 3-2; Quarter-finals: Hong Kong bt India 3-1 (Doo Hoi Kem bt Sagarika Mukherjee 11-5, 11-7, 11-6; Minnie Wai Yam Soo lost to Ayhika Mukherjee 8-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-9, 10-12; Lok Yee Lam bt Priyadarshini Das 11-6, 11-5, 11-6; Doo Hoi Kem bt Ayhika Mukherjee 11-5, 11-9, 11-7); China bt Chinese Taipei 3-0; South Korea bt North Korea 3-0; Japan bt Thailand 3-0.
Cadet boys (Semi-finals): Chinese Taipei bt Japan 3-2; Korea bt China 3-1; Quarter-finals: China bt Bahrain 3-0; South Korea bt India 3-0 (An Jaehyum bt Akaash Nath 11-5, 11-9, 11-7; Kim Dae Woo bt Manav Thakkar 11-6, 12-10, 11-8; Jaehyum/Woo bt Nath/Thakkar 11-8, 12-10, 11-5); Japan bt Hong Kong 3-0; Chinese Taipei bt Thailand 3-0.
Cadet girls (Quarter-finals): China bt Chinese Taipei 3-0; Hong Kong bt Thailand 3-0; South Korea bt India 3-0 (Kim Youjin bt Shruti Amrute 11-1, 11-6, 11-2; Kim Jiho bt Naina 17-15, 11-4, 11-3; Youjin/Jiho bt Amrute/Naina 11-7, 11-4, 11-3); Japan bt Singapore 3-0.
Cadet girls: Group 1: India bt Jordan 3-0 (Shruti Amrute bt Tina Alkhoury 11-4, 11-5, 11-5, Naina bt Lima Khater 11-2, 11-5, 11-1, Naina/Archana Kamath bt Tina/Lima 11-7, 11-5, 11-1); China bt India 3-0; China bt Jordan 3-0. Group 2: Japan bt Kazakhstan 3-0; Japan bt Chinese Taipei 3-0. Group 3: Thailand lost to South Korea 1-3; Thailand bt Sri Lanka 3-0. Group 4: Hong Kong bt Singapore 3-0; Hong Kong bt Iran 3-1; Singapore bt Iran 3-1.