SUZHOU (China): Maisnam Meiraba put up a herculean effort to help Indian shuttlers set up a quarter-final clash with Indonesia at the Badminton Asia Junior Championships here Sunday.
Meiraba, who has been in sterling form of late and even won his first international tournament at the White Night Russian Junior International earlier this month, was the sole winner of the day for the Indian contingent in their 1-4 loss to Korea.
The Manipuri refused to give up and fought for one hour 32 minutes to subdue Korea’s Hyeon Seung Park.
The mixed doubles pair of Dingku Singh Konthoujam and Ritika Thaker fought for 56 minutes before going down 21-19, 12-21, 12-21 to Dong Ju Ki and Eun Ji Lee. Goa’s Tanisha Crasto and Kerala’s Treesa Jolly were equally impressive in their 16-21, 21-16, 12-21 girl’s doubles loss to Young Bin Ji and Eun Ji Lee.
In the boy’s doubles , the combine of Ishaan Bhatnagar and Vishnu Vardhan Goud Panjala found Korea’s Dong Ju Ki and Joon Young Kim too strong in their 17-21, 15-21 defeat. While Malvika Bansod suffered a 10-21, 8-21 defeat to Ga Lam Kimin the girl’s singles.
“Korea was always supposed to be a tough hurdle but I am happy to see how the team performed under pressure,” said chief junior coach Sanjay Mishra.
“They never looked to be intimidated and the attitude was perfect. The hard work that we did in the 15-day camp before the tournament paid off. With more experience and exposure, the youngsters can make a lot of difference,” he added.
On the first day of the competition, India had blanked both Mongolia and Macau China by an identical score of 5-0. (AGENCIES)
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