The Hindu : Zubin does India proud

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jun 20, 2002

Sport

Sport - Badminton

Zubin does India proud

By Our Sports Reporter

NEW DELHI JUNE 19. Thirteen-year old Zubin Kumar won the mini cadet boys' title as India bagged one gold, three silver and one bronze, in the World table tennis Youth Festival championship held in Tiszaujvaros, Hungary. The championship was conducted from June 13 to 16.

Left-handed Zubin, a trainee in the Petroleum Sports Control Board Academy (PSCBA), won the event without dropping a game in five matches. He beat Radu Voinea 4-0 in the final.

Apart from Zubin's fine effort, India also finished runner-up in the girls' under-18 team championship. The girls' team, represented by Nandita Saha, Sushmita Roy and Moushmi Paul, lost 0-3 to Romania in the final.

The other two silver medals were won by Sourav Chakravorty and Pallavi Kundu in the individual categories. Sourav lost 2-4 to Hungary's Zwick Daniel in the boys' under-18 final. In the semifinals, Sourav overcame Yugoslavia's Sel Zolt 4-1.

Bengal's Pallavi went down 0-4 to Elisabeta Samara of Romania in the mini cadet girls' final. Twelve-year old Pallavi defeated Barbara Brasso 4-0 for a place in the final. Delhi's Neha Aggarwal reached the quarterfinals.

The boys' under-18 team, represented by Sourav, Ranabir Das and Arunava Ganguly, won a bronze medal. The team lost 1-3 to Hungary `A' in the semifinal, with Ranabir winning his match against Zwick, the eventual winner in the boys' section. Ranabir lost to Wang Yang of China in straight games in the pre-quarterfinal in the individual section.

"Overall, it was a decent fare from our team. The European sides were strong but we managed to do well. Sourav was leading in the final but he committed some tactical mistakes in the third game. Zubin proved too strong in his category. Pallavi too, showed fine temperament but her Romanian opponent was superior in the final,'' said Bhawani Mukherji, the coach of the team.

The results:

Team championship: Boys (under-18): Semifinals: Hungary `A' bt India 3-1; quarterfinals: India bt Hungary `C' 3-0; second round: India bt England `B' 3-0.

Girls (under-18): Final: Romania bt India 3-0; semifinals: India bt Hungary `A' 3-2; quarterfinals: India bt Yugoslavia `A' 3-2; first round: India bt Romania `B' 3-0.

Under-15: Quarterfinals: Romania `A' bt India 3-0; second round: India bt Hungary `B' 3-0; final qualifying round: India bt Ukraine `A' 3-0.

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