TT | Manav Thakkar reaches Junior World’s Quarterfinals in both singles and doubles category

India’s Manav Thakkar cruised through to the quarterfinals of the 2018 World Junior Championships at Bendigo in Australia on Saturday. He defeated his Chinese Taipei opponent Feng Yi-Hsin of 11-7, 8-11, 11-4, 9-11, 14-12, 11-1 at the pre-quarter final stage.

In the tournament Thakkar has already defeated Canada’s Jeremy Hazin 11-9, 11-6, 11-3, 11-5 after which he took on Yi-Hsin. Now, he will play China’s Xiang Peng in the quarter-finals later on Saturday. If Thakkar reaches the Semifinals, then he will play the winner of the quarter-final between Japan’s Yukiya Uda and China’s Xu Yingbin.

But it was not a rewarding day for Manush Shah and Jeet Chandra who made an exit from the tournament as they lost their first round encounters. Chandra lost to Romanian Cristian Plelta 8-11, 5-11, 8-11, 8-11 while Shah went down to Singapore’s Pang Yew En Koen in a hard-fought round of 32 match 11-6, 9-11, 11-4, 5-11 4-11, 7-11.

On the other hand, in the men’s doubles category the Indian pair of Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah defeated Argentina’s Martin Bentancor and Santiago Lorenzo to enter the quarter-finals, taking the match 12-14, 11-8, 11-6, 11-13, 11-7. Next they face Tapie’s Feng Yi-Hsin and Li Hsin-Yang in the quarter-finals.

The other Indian doubles pair of Jeet Chandra and Snehit Suravajjula lost in a close encounter against the second seed pairing of Cristian Pleta and Rares Sipos from Romania 11-7, 11-3, 9-11, 9-11, 12-10.