Hyderabad: Promising Hyderabad table tennis player tasted success on his international debut on Wednesday when, as a part of the India ‘B’ side, he won a bronze medal at the India Open junior and sub-junior table tennis tournament at the Mukherjee Stadium in Goa.
Despite losing to Singapore 0-3 in the final round of the junior event, India ‘B’ comprising India No.3 Snehit and No.4 Jeeth Chandra managed to win the bronze on the strength of their earlier performances.
Snehit and Jeeth defeated Sweden 3-2 in their opening match before going down 1-3 to India ‘A’ Maanav Thakkar and Akash Nath.
In the third round, Snehit and Jeeth effected a 3-2 defeat of India ‘C’, comprising Harikrishna and Neeldeep.
Reacting to his first international medal, Snehit said: “I feel very happy to win a medal on my international debut. I will work very hard to get more international exposure this year.”
Meanwhile, the India ‘A’ junior girls side won gold after defeating Singapore in their last league game. India ‘A’ girls settled for silver.
In cadet boys category, India ‘A’ and ‘B’ won a silver and a bronze respectively.
For India ‘A’ junior girls, it was a struggle in the beginning but they were able to focus well enough to win the title.
Sagarika Mukherjee beat Yee Herng Hwee 11-6, 11-9, 13-15, 4-11, 11-8 after which, Suthirtha Mukherjee rallied to defeat Tay Huil Li 9-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-4, 11-8.
The two girls then combined well to overcome the Singaporean pair 6-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-9 to comprehensively lay claim to the championship.
