China junior girls upset India A, India B qualify for semis

Mumbai: Top seeds India A suffered an upset defeat at the hands of third seeds China, 0-3 in a Group I Junior Girls tie in the USD 8000 Reliance India Junior and Cadet Open Table Tennis championships at the NSCI-Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium here on Wednesday.

Little known Chinese girls Yanmei Yang and Li Anqi were the underdogs but they ignored the reputations of the host players to snatch a sensational win. Yang overcame world No. 60 Suthirtha Mukherjee 3-1 in the opening singles, while Anqi rallied from 1-2 down to prevail over world No. 30 Manika Batra in a 3-2 thriller. Yang and Anqi later combined to win the doubles 3-0 to complete the rout. India A made amends later to keep their hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals alive when they beat India C 3-0. Meanwhile, India B junior girls qualified for the semi-finals from Group II, following victories over India D and India-China. Joining the girls in the last four were India A and B junior boys. In the cadet boys category, India A registered wins over United Arab Emirates and India C, while India`s A and B squads post wins in the cadet girls section.