KATHMANDU: India bagged 13 gold and three silver in an impressive medal haul in the South Asian Youth Table Tennis Championships here.
The qualification event for this year’s Youth Asian Championships saw the Indian contingent dominate the competition across various categories on Sunday.
The Indian teams grabbed three gold medals in the Under-19 girls, Under-15 boys, and Under-15 girls sections and made a clean sweep of all six golds in the U-19 and U-15 doubles, including the mixed doubles events.
Additionally, India secured four gold medals in the U-19 boys and girls singles events.
However, hosts Nepal claimed the fourth gold in the U-19 boys category. Despite a lone loss to Pakistan in the five-team league phase, Nepal finished on top with seven points, securing three wins and edging out Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, who took second and third place, respectively.
India, having qualified for the Youth Asian Youth Championships last year, did not have to field its squad in the competition.
In the team events, Pritha Vartikar, Ananya Chande, Hardee Patel, and Diya Bramhachary clinched the U-19 girls gold, defeating Nepal 3-1.
Prateeti Paul, Aarushi Nandi, Advika Arawal, and Tanmayee Saha triumphed in the U-15 girls category, thrashing Sri Lanka 3-0.
In the U-19 boys' singles final, Kushal Chopda triumphed over fellow Indian R Balamurugan 3-1 to claim the gold, as the Indians secured the top two spots.
In the U-19 girls' singles, Ananya Chande defeated Pritha Vartikar 3-1 to take the gold, leaving Pritha with the silver.