Tunis, May 30: Indian table tennis players Diya Chitale and Swastika Ghosh confirmed a medal in the U-19 girls’ doubles category and also made it to the knockout stage in singles, at the 2021 World Table Tennis (WTT) Youth Star Contender here on Sunday. This is the first international youth event where India TT players are competing in since the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Maharashtra duo of Diya and Swastika, who received a bye in the opening round, won 11-5, 6-11, 11-9, 11-8 against local favourites Fadwa Garci and Maram Zoghlami in the last-eight encounter and secured at least a bronze with an entry into the semi-finals. The pair will now take on Czech Republic’s Linda Zaderova and Croatia’s Hana Arapovic in the last-four match.
Diya and Swastika also progressed into the U-19 singles last-16 stage after finishing on top in their respective groups with an all-win record. Diya, the national youth champion, dominated during her 3-0 victories against Belarusian Darya Vasilenka (11-7, 11-7, 11-7), Linda Zaderova (11-4, 10-12, 11-1, 11-8) and Algeria’s Narimene-Hind Siddeki (11-3, 11-4, 11-7) in Group-VI.
Junior national champion Swastika defeated Greece’s Malamatenia Papadimitriou and Portugal’s Ines Matos by identical 3-0 margins in the Group-I.
The WTT Youth Contenders will open the playing field to all up-and-coming athletes, and it is expected that up to 30 events per year will be contested, allowing players to earn world ranking points. The WTT Youth Star Contenders will act as the next step on the international ladder with the best youth players being determined to compete in these competitions. (IANS)
