Indian boys finish sixth in Asian Junior and Cadet table tennis

Kuala Lumpur, July 24 (IANS)

Indian boys finished sixth after losing to Chinese Taipei in the fifth-sixth classification match of the 21st Asian Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Championships here on Friday.

After losing to South Korea 0-3, India defeated Singapore 3-0 in the seventh-eighth classification contest and ran into Taipei to finish but lost. China, as expected, won the gold medal while South Korea and Japan finished second and third respectively.

In the last edition of the Asian Junior championships, held at Mumbai in 2014, the Indian boys finished ninth.

But the junior girls went down a few rungs to finish tenth. In the 9-10 positions match, Singapore beat India 3-1. Earlier, the Indian girls lost 0-3 in the pre-quarterfinal match against Chinese Taipei. It was a sort of revenge for the Taipei girls who, in the Mumbai edition, lost to 1-3 to the hosts and had finished eighth behind India.

China, Japan and South Korea finished on the podium winning gold, silver and bronze, respectively.

Against Singapore, only Sreeja Akula posted a 11-7, 11-4, 11-4 triumph over Eunice Zoe Lim in the first singles but both Maria Rony and Seraha Jacob lost their matches.

Maria went down 5-11, 5-11, 7-11 to Wan Qi Ang, then Seraha lost her match 11-7, 6-11, 9-11, 8-11 to Pearlyn Koh Kai Xin as Singapore led 2-1. In the reverse singles, Wan beat Sreeja 12-10, 9-11, 11-4, 11-9.