by Ian Marshall, Editor
Kavya Sree Baskar and Nilishma Sarkar raised the standard for India; a close 3-2 semi-final success against colleagues Suhana Saini and Taneesha Kotecha was followed by a 3-1 win in opposition to Chinese Taipei’s Cheng Pu-Syuan and Liang Yuan-Ting.
In the penultimate round the player to shine was Suhana Saini, she beat both Nilishma Sarkar and (5-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-2) and Kavya Sree Baskar (11-6, 11-9, 10-12, 11-7) but they were to prove her team’s only successes. Later in the final, Kavya Sree Baskar attracted the attention; she accounted for both Cheng Pu-Syuan (8-11, 1-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-6) and Liang Yuan-Ting (11-2, 11-7, 5-11, 11-7), whilst teaming with Nilishma Sarkar to secure the doubles (11-9, 11-9, 11-9).
Different story
Disappointment for Chinese Taipei; not in the remaining competitions, it was a very different story.
In the junior boys’ team event, Tai Ming-Wei and Huang Yu-Jen recorded a hard earned full distance 3-2 success in the final against the Iranian combination of Amin Ahmadian, Mohammadjavad Sohrabi and Mohammad Mousavi Taher. The player to cause the champions elect problems being Amin Ahmadian, he beat both Huang Yu-Jen (11-9, 9-11, 11-8, 12-14, 11-9) and Tai Ming-Wei (11-7, 12-10, 9-11, 11-9).
Earlier at the semi-final stage the Iranians had posted a 3-1 win in opposition to India’s Shreyaans Goel and Himnakulhpuingheta Jeho; as in the final Amin Ahmadian remained unbeaten. He overcame Himnakulhpuingheta Jeho in five games (9-11, 11-6, 7-11, 19-17, 11-6) and rather more comfortably in four games Shreyaans Goel (11-6, 9-11, 12-10, 11-3).
Notably, Tai Ming-Wei and Huang Yu-Jen, as with Cheng Pu-Syuan and Liang Yuan-Ting, received a direct entry from the initial group stage to the final.
Hard earned success
A close call for Tai Ming-Wei and Huang Yu-Jen, it was the same in the counterpart junior girls’ team event, a competition held on a group all-play-all basis.
In the title decider, Cai Fong-En and Hsu Yi-Chen claimed a 3-2 win in opposition to India’s Anargya Manjunath and Swastika Ghosh; the player to excel being Cai Fong-En, she accounted for both Anargya Manjunath (6-11, 13-11, 11-1, 9-11, 11-8) and Swastika Ghosh (9-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-8). The wins paved the way for Hsu Yi-Chen to be the heroine; in the vital fifth and concluding match of the fixture, she overcame Anargya Manjunath (11-8, 11-9, 11-3).
More comfortable
Success by comparatively narrow margins; in the cadet boys’ team event, the Chinese Taipei victory was more pronounced.
Chuang Yu-An and Chen Yen-Ting recorded a 3-0 semi-final win in opposition to India’s Aadarsh Om Chhetri and Divyansh Srivastava, prior to securing the title by posting the same margin of victory in opposition to Russia’s Sergey Ryzhov and Alexey Perfilyev.
One round earlier at the semi-final stage the Russian duo had recorded a 3-0 win against India’s Preyesh Suresh Raj and Sarth Mishra, having in the quarter-final round prevailed by the same margin when facing England’s Naphong Boonyaprapa and Georgios Gerakios. Chuang Yu-An and Chen Yen-Ting received a direct entry to the penultimate round.
Individual events commence
Team events concluded, attention now turns to the individual competitions, play concludes in Muscat on Monday 28th October.
