Sagarika breaches Chinese bastion

Mumbai, October 20, 2013: In the face of a Chinese invasion Sagarika Mukherjee made India proud when outsmarted Anqi Li to enter the finals of the Junior Girls category at the $8,000 Reliance India Junior and Cadet Open at the NSCI Stadium here today.

The Indian will take on Yanmei Yang in the final to be played later this evening. Yang defeated compatriot Xiaotong Sun 4-1 in the other semifinal.

Ranked 146 in the world, Sagarika was down 1-3 and almost looked out when she upped the ante to take her Chinese rival the full distance and win 11-7, 5-11, 9-11, 8-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-9 with pin-pointed precision to seal her final spot.

The West Bengal lass despite taking the first game rather easily, failed to counter the pace of Li whose close-to-the-table shots brooked little challenge from Sagarika. In the crucial fifth game, Sagarika forced Li play into her hands by slowing down the pace. Unable to come to terms with Sagarika’s push-and-prod game with sudden forehand winners, Li was rattled enough to lose the extended game.

That was the time when Sagarika raised her game a notch higher and reeling under the pressure Li slowly but surely wilted, and allowed the Indian first level the score at 3-3 before turning on the heat in the decider which Sagarika won with minimum points.

As for the Junior Boys fare, Abhisheh Yadav and Sudhanshu Grover will meet in the final, also to be played this evening. Both Yadav and Grover blanked out their rivals, Lalrin Puia and Utkarsh Gupta, by an identical margin of 4-0.

Sagarika also reached the Cadet Girls final and she will play Akula Sreeja while in the Cadet Boys category, Arjun Ghosh and Birdie Boro will cross swords.  

Results:

Junior Boys: Singles Semifinals: Abhishek Yadav bt Lalrin Puia 4-0 (11-5, 11-9, 11-5, 11-8), Sudhanshu Grover bt Utkarsh Gupta 4-0 (12-10, 12-10, 11-8, 11-3).

Junior Girls: Singles Semifinals: Sagarika Mukherjee bt Anqi Li 4-3 (11-7, 5-11, 9-11, 8-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-9), Yanmei Yang (CHN) bt Xiaotong Sun (CHN) 4-1 (11-7, 11-8, 8-11, 11-6, 11-5).

Cadet Boys: Singles Semifinals: Arjun Ghosh bt Anirban Ghosh 3-1 (11-9, 11-9, 10-12, 11-9), Birdie Boro bt Yuhao Wang (CHN) 3-1 (11-5, 11-13, 11-9, 11-7).

Cadet Girls: Singles Semifinals: Sagarika Mukherjee bt Srushti Haleangadi 3-0 (11-5, 11-7, 11-6), Akula Sreeja bt CR Harshavardhini 3-2 (7-11, 5-11, 15-13, 11-6, 11-2).

A TTFI Press release