by Ian Marshall, Editor
At the final hurdle of the Cadet Girls’ team event, Anargya Manjunath and Suhana Saini accounted for the combination of Russia’s Daria Mikhailova and Lavanya Maruthapandian; a three-one outcome being the result.
Suhana Saini beat Daria Mikhailova in the opening match of the engagement (13-15, 11-7, 16-14, 9-11, 11-6), before accounting for Lavanya Maruthapandian (11-6, 11-8, 13-11) to seal victory. Impressively, in the second match of the fixture, Anargya Manjunath had also accounted for Lavanya Maruthapandian (11-6, 16-14, 8-11, 9-11, 11-4); the one success for the silver medallists came in the doubles when a straight games win was recorded (11-6, 11-7, 12-10).
Earlier at the quarter-final stage Anargya Manjunath and Suhana Sani had overcome The French pairing of Clea de Stoppelière and Maya Douine by three matches to one, prior to recording a three-nil win in opposition to Portugal’s Ines Salgado and Ines Gonçalves.
Worthy performances in the latter stages from Anargya Manjunath and Suhana Sani, it was the same from Daria Mikhailova and Lavanya Maruthapandian. Three-nil wins were the order of the day as they overcame Spain’s Eugenia Sastre and Ainhoa Cristobal, followed by similar success in opposition to Ines Matos and Patricia Santos.
Defeat for Ines Matos and Patricia Santos but later in the day there was success; the duo secured the Cadet Girls’ Doubles title at the final expense of Anargya Manjunath and Suhana Saini (11-9, 11-1, 11-3).
Gold for Ines Matos and Patricia Santos, as the day closed there was gold for Wang Xinyu; after recording a semi-final success against Spain’s Elvira Fiona Rad (11-4, 11-3, 7-11, 11-2), she accounted for Suhana Sani (6-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-8) to claim the top prize. In the opposite half of the draw, in the penultimate round Suhana Saini had beaten Jeanne Robbes of France (11-2, 11-8, 11-8).
The second step of the podium for Suhana Saini but overall one gold and two silver medals on the concluding day of play was a most creditable performance, even more creditable when taken into account she is only 12 years old.
