Vadodara: Young Paddlers from Tamilnadu put in a gallant performance as the U-19 Boys Team bagged a silver medal after they lost an enticing final encounter to local favourites Gujarat in the 11SPORTS 64th National School Games Table Tennis Championship, here at the Sama Indoor Sports Complex on Thursday.
The Tamilnadu team led by G Piyush Sagar, romped past Navodaya Vidhyalaya Samiti 3-0 in the quarters to book their berth in the last-four stage. In the semis, the Tamilnadu team didn’t have the best of starts as N Nandesh lost to CBSE Welfare Sports Organisation’s Parth Mishra but his teammates quickly bounced back to fight tooth and nail and win the next three clashes to make their way into the finals with a 3-1 win.
Up against local favourites Gujarat led by National Champion Manush Shah in the finals, Tamilnadu’s G Piyush Sagar got his team off to a brilliant start with a win over Karan Pal Singh Jadeja but the National Champion used his experience to restore parity in the game with a win over N Nandesh.
In the next game, Tamilnadu’s K Harish couldn’t get his side back into the tie as he capitulated to Murad Ayaz before his teammate Manush provided the finishing touches to make the Tamilnadu team settle for silver.