Indian pair Manav Thakkar, Manush Shah grabs gold at Slovenia Open

Otocec, September 25: Indian pair Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah on Sunday clinched Slovenia Open Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Open which was held in Otocec, Slovenia. Notably, the Indian duo defeated the top-seeded Chinese Taipei duo of Feng i-Hsin and Tai Ming-Wei in the summit clash.

 

Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah registered a comprehensive win over the top-seeded Chinese Taipei duo of Feng i-Hsin and Tai Ming-Wei by 11-7, 11-6, 17-15 in the thrilling finals. Manav and Manush dominated completely in the match and scored points at all the interval. Though the Chinese Taipei pair saved four match points Manav and Manush won the grueling battle to win the gold.

Earlier in the day, the second-seeded Indian pair had beaten compatriots Anukram Jain and Snehit Suravajjula 11-8, 8-11, 9-11, 11-7, 14-12 in the semi-final but lost to Manav and Manush. Another medal was on its way when top-seeded Jeho Himnakulhpuingheta kept his date with destiny to reach the Cadet Boys singles final.

He defeated Iran's Radin Khayyam in straight games of 11-5, 1-4, 11-9 to earn a final meeting with Irish second seed Owen Cathcard, who accounted for Ivor Ban 11-8, 11-1, 6-11, 11-5 from Croatia. Jeho, who had earlier been beaten twice by his adversary in the Belgium Open, will get his chance to avenge those losses in the finals.