Indian paddlers clinch silver at Asian Junior and Cadet Championships after losing to China in final

Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia): The Indian boys team settled for a silver medal at the Asian Junior and Cadet Championships after losing the final 0-3 to top seed China but the second-place helped them qualify for the World Junior Championships. Coach Brett Clarke began the proceedings with Raegan Albuquerque but it did not work as the Mumbai lad went down 7-11, 8-11, 9-11 to Xu Yingbin. India’s No 1 player Manush Shah was patchy to begin with against world no. six Xiang Peng who beat the Indian left-hander 7-11, 12-10, 5-11, 9-11. In the third singles, Anukram Jain failed to match the guile and speed of Liu Yebo, who simply worn him down 11-6, 11-4, 11-5 to complete the task. The individual events at the Championships begin from Thursday. The World Junior Championships will be held at Korat, Thailand in November later this year.