Sharath-Sathiyan pair wins silver in Hungary

The Indian duo, which defeated top seeds Ho Kwan Kit and Wong Chun Ting of Hong Kong 3-2 in the semi-finals, put up a strong show in the decider. But it eventually went down fighting 5-11, 9-11, 11-8, 9-11 to the 16th seeds in a 30-minute showdown on Saturday. Having clinched a bronze medal with Manika Batra in mixed doubles, Sharath finished in the podium for the second time in the prestigious tournament.

It turned out to be a super Saturday for India as Chennai’s Mathan Rajan Hansini bagged bronze in the mini-cadet girls’ singles category at the Swedish Junior and Cadet Open in Orebro (Sweden). The 10-year-old started her main draw challenge after a couple of wins in the group stages. But she went down to Russia’s Iuliia Pugovkina 12-10, 9-11, 5-11, 8-11 in a gruelling semi-final match.

In the main draw, she beat Russia’s Aleksandra Bokova 10-12, 11-9, 11-9, 11-3 in the Round-of-16 and notched up a commanding 11-3, 12-10, 11-9 win over Isha Bajpai of the USA in the quarter-finals. In the cadet girls’ singles section, another Indian, Suhana Saini reached the pre-quarterfinals, while Suresh Raj Preyesh too made it to the Round-of-16 in cadet boys’ singles section.