Diya Chitale, Swastika Ghosh win silver at WTT Youth Star contender

The duo were defeated by Russian pair Natalia Malinina and Elizabet Abraamian in the Under-19 girls doubles finals.

Youngsters Diya Chitale and Swastika Ghosh's splendid run came to an end at the 2021 WTT Youth Star Contender. The duo suffered a 0-3 (3-11, 6-11, 7-11) defeat against Russians Natalia Malinina and Elizabet Abraamian in the U-19 girls doubles finals. Thus, the Indians brought home a silver medal at the tournament.

Earlier the Indian pair made their way into the final after defeating Linda Zaderova and Croatia’s Hana Arapovic. The semi final match finished with the scoreline of 3-2 (8-11, 11-7, 11-6, 6-11, 11-9).

Besides the runner-up finish in doubles, Maharashtra girls Diya and Swastika, were also impressive in the WTT Youth Star Contender U-19 singles. Both the girls finished their campaign in the semi final stage. They sufferred identical 2-3 defeats in hard-fought encounters.

The youth national champion Diya gave her all and made life tougher for Russian paddler Vlada Voronina. Finally she lost the thrilling contest by 8-11, 11-7, 11-6, 8-11, 7-11.Meanwhile, the current junior national champion Swastika lost to Turkey’s Ece Harac. The tense five-setter match ended with a scoreline of 11-8, 4-11, 11-9, 3-11, 6-11.

In the quarter final stage, Diya Chitale notched up a convincing victory against Belarus's Vera Volkava (11-9, 11-8, 11-9). Meanwhile Swastika Ghosh defeated Russia's Natalia Malinina(12-10, 11-5, 6-11, 11-8) quite comprehensively. 

The WTT Youth Star Contender is the first international youth event Indian players are participating in since the coronavirus outbreak Earlier, Preyesh Raj Suresh, Payas Jain and Deepit Patil competed in the boys category. Preyesh exited in the U-15 quarter-finals. Meanwhile Payas and Deepit, who participated in U-19 category, could manage to reach last-16 and group stage respectively.

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