Host India, title favourite Egypt and England made it to the pre-quarterfinal in the WSF-World junior men’s team championship, which began in Chennai on Tuesday.
All three teams won two matches each in their respective groups.
While Egypt and England had it easy, fifth seed India huffed and puffed to a 2-1 win over 12th seed Switzerland in their second match with Yash Fadte beating Yannick Wilhelmi in five games to secure the win. In a contest between the respective teams’ top players, Fadte fought admirably to swing the tie India’s way, bringing a loud round of cheers from the good gathering at the Express Avenue Mall in the city.
Earlier in the morning, India started off well by beating Saudi Arabia 3-0. The host rested their top player Yash Fadte for this match.
Rahul Baitha, Utkarsh Baheti and Veer Chotrani posted easy wins for the home side to ensure a comprehensive 3-0 win.
Results:
Group A: Egypt bt Singapore 3-0; Egypt bt Australia 3-0.
Group B: Canada bt Scotland 3-0. Group C: England bt South Africa 2-1; England bt Ireland 3-0. Group D: Malaysia bt Germany 3-0.
Group E:
India bt Saudi Arabia 3-0 (Rahul Baitha bt Abdulelah Boureggah 11-1, 11-4, 11-2;, Utkarsh Baheti bt Abdulmajeed Boureggah 11-2, 11-7, 11-5; Veer Chotrani bt Mohammad Almwled 12-10, 11-4, 11-8).
India bt Switzerland 2-1 (Utkarsh Baheti bt Campbell Wells 11-6, 6-11, 13-11, 11-9; Veer Chotrani lost to Nils Roesch 11-9, 5-11, 3-11, 7-11; Yash Fadte bt Yannick Wilhelmi 11-8, 7-11, 5-11, 11-4, 11-9).
Group F: Czech Republic bt Zimbawe 3-0; Group G: Colombia lost to New Zealand 1-2. Group H: USA bt Finland 3-0.
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