Divya and Swastika ensured medal in doubles

India’s young players Divya Chitale and Swastika Ghosh stitched a brilliant performance as they secured at least a bronze medal for the country as they entered the Under 19 girls doubles semi-finals of the World Table Tennis Youth Starr Contender tournament released in Tunisia. Both the players also made it to the knockout round of the singles category.

Maharashtra’s Divya and Swastika got byes in the first round. In the next round, they defeated local duo Phadwa Garcy and Maram Jogalami 11-5, 6-11, 11-9, 11-8 to advance to the semi-finals and secure a bronze medal for themselves. The Indian pair will face Linda Jaderova of the Czech Republic and Hana Arapovic of Croatia in the semi-finals.

Mumbai’s Divya and Swastika also made it to the pre-chart final of the Under 19 singles. Divya, the young national champion, advanced to Round 16 with a 3–0 record in Group Six. He has Belarus’s Darya Vasilenka (11-7, 11-7, 11-7), Linda Zadarova (11-4, 10-12, 11-1, 11-8) and Algeria’s Nariman-Hind Siddiqui (11-3, 11–4, 11–7), while junior national champion Swastika beat Greece’s Malmatania Papadimitriou and Ines Matos of Portugal 3–0 (11–6, 11–6, 11–9) and in Group A matches, respectively. Defeated 3–2 (8–11, 11–6, 11–5, 8–11, 11–7).