Manav Thakkar, Manush Shah win silver in Czech Junior and Cadet Open

Having squandered the first game, the Chinese pair of Yingbin Xu and Heyi Yu capitalised on the lead and gave no chance to the Indian pair to turnaround.

Hodonin: India’s Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah put up an impressive show to secure a silver medal in the Czech Junior and Cadet Open, a part of the 2018 ITTF Premier Junior Circuit.

The second-seeded pair sailed through the earlier rounds in the Junior Boys’ Doubles, before running into the Chinese duo Yingbin Xu and Heyi Yu. They put up a valiant fight before going down 1-3 in the final on Thursday.

Thakkar and Shah had their opportunities in the opening game itself, but they failed to wrap it up and lost 12-14. Xu and Yu rode on the momentum to clinch the second game too at 11-8. The Indians, however, rallied in the third to make it 1-2, taking the closely fought game 11-9. The fourth game too was tense and could have gone either way. But it proved to be the Chinese pair’s day, as they won 13-11 to take the game, the match and the title.

The Indian pair routed the Egypt-Italy team of Youssef Abdel-Aziz and Carlo Rossi 3-0 in the semifinals. The quarterfinals were much tougher, with Leo de Nodrest and Jules Rolland of France winning the first two games 11-7, 11-6. Thakkar and Shah, however, recovered smartly enough to win the remaining three games, all at 11-7.