Asian Youth Table Tennis 2023: India clinch bronze medals in U15, U19 boys' team events

India's Under-15 and Under-19 boys' teams clinched bronze medals at the Asian Youth Table Tennis 2023 tournament in Doha, Qatar. The event featured several talented young table tennis players from China, Japan, India, Hong Kong, and Singapore, among others.

The 27th Asian Youth Table Tennis tournament is a qualification event for the Slovenia World Youth Championship at Nova Gorica from 26th November to 3rd December.

In the U19 category, the Indian boys had to fight hard against the Hong Kong team in the quarterfinal. Jash Modi was the star of the team as he defeated Yiu Kwan after losing the first two games. Modi came into the contest after facing a defeat against Chan Baldwin in straight games by 8-11, 5-11, 5-11.

The Indian paddler had a poor start against Yiu Kwan as well. He lost the first two games by 6-11, 10-12 before making a comeback to win the next three by 11-8, 11-8, 11-2.

Ankur Bhattacharjee, however, defeated the same opponent in three games by 11-8, 11-8, 11-7 to help India get closer to the semi-final.

A win for Divyansh Srivastava confirmed the medal for the Indians. The youngster had to fight hard against Li Hon Man though. The Hong Kong paddler lost the first two games but held his nerves to win the third. However, Divyansh finished the match by taking the fourth game 12-10.

China dominated India in the semi-final to win by 3-0 to move to the final. They defeated Korea to clinch the gold medal.

India U15 boys' team defeat Singapore for the bronze medal

The Indian U15 boys' team clinched the bronze medal after defeating Singapore in the quarterfinal team event at the Asian Youth Table Tennis tournament. Indian boys defeated Singapore 3-0 to move to the semifinal, where they lost to China.

India's PB Abhinand and Le Ellsworth faced each other in the first match of the tie. The Indian paddler won the contest with ease by 11-9, 11-5, 11-7.

He gave the initial lead to the Indian team. Priyanuj Bhattacharyya won against Xing Yao to make it 2-0. The Indian paddler won the first game 11-8 but dropped the next one 9-11. He bounced back to win the next two to seal the match.

In the doubles event, Abhinand/Priyanuj had to fight hard for their victory against Singapore's Irle/Zhou. The Indian pair won the first two games 11-8, 11-5. Singapore pulled things back by winning the next two 11-7, 11-6.

In the final game, the Indian pair dismissed the Singapore pair by 11-7 to take the game. India then lost to eventual champions China 0-3.

Meanwhile, the Indian girls' team suffered a loss in the quarterfinals to bow out without medals at the Asian Youth Table Tennis. Both U15 and U19 girls lost to the Japan team by 0-3 and 1-3, respectively.