Sharath-Sathiyan 2nd best at Hungarian Open

Budapest, February 23

The Indian men’s doubles pair of Achanta Sharath Kamal and G Sathiyan settled for a silver medal at the ITTF World Tour Hungarian Open after losing the summit clash to the German combination of Benedikt Duda and Patrick Franziska here on Saturday.

The Indian pair, which defeated top seeds Ho Kwan Kit and Wong Chun Ting of Hong Kong 3-2 in the semifinals, put up a strong effort in the summit clash but eventually went down fighting 5-11 9-11 11-8 9-11 to the 16th-seeded German pair in a 30-minute showdown.

It is Sharath Kamal’s second medal from the prestigious tournament. He also won a bronze with Manika Batra in the mixed doubles.

10-year-old Hansini

shines in Sweden

It turned out to be a super Saturday for India as Chennai’s Mathan Rajan Hansini bagged a bronze medal in the mini-cadet girls’ singles category at the Swedish Junior and Cadet Open in Orebro, Sweden.

The 10-year-old Class V student started her main draw challenge after a couple of wins in the group stages before going down to Russia’s Iuliia Pugovkina 12-10 9-11 5-11 8-11 in a gruelling semifinal match. In the main draw, she beat Russia’s Aleksandra Bokova 12-10 9-11 9-11 3-11 in the Round of 16 and then notched up a commanding 11-3 12-10 11-9 win over USA’s Isha Bajpai in the quarters.

In the cadet girls’ singles section, another Indian talent, Suhana Saini, reached the pre-quarterfinals, while Suresh Raj Preyesh too made it to the pre-quarters in the cadet boys’ singles section. — PTI