Indian boys strike gold in Hungary

NEW DELHI: The Table Tennis Federation of India’s decision to send its junior squad for the third Hungarian Youth World Table Tennis Festival last month bore fruit with the boys’ doubles pair of Ranbir Das and Shakantu Das claiming the gold medal while the boys and girls teams earned a bronze medal each. It was the first time the TTFI had sent cadets (under-11), sub-juniors (under-14) and juniors (under-18) on an exposure tour. In boys doubles, Ranbir Das and Shakantu Das defeated Gladystev and Huszainov of Tatarstan 2-1 in the final to emerge champions. The Indian boys and girls teams suffered an identical 2-3 loss to Hungary to finish third in their respective categories. In individual events, Saurav Chakraborty won the bronze after losing to China’s Yang Zi. In girls singles, Sushmita Roy and Milika Parekh lost to C Gabriel of Yugoslavia and Li Quiangbing of China, respectively, in the pre-quarterfinals.

Soumyanandi lost to E Szaboles in cadet boys pre-quarters while in cadet girls singles, Sayandika Kundu and Supraja Prasad were both knocked out in the pre-quarterfinals. R Rege lost to Gubi Ramona of Hungary in three games.