Jennifer Varghese had a tough day on Monday as she faced defeat in all the games she played at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Star Youth Contender series in Lima, Peru. However, she did manage to bring home two silver medals.
Jennifer had a successful run in both the U-15 girl’s singles and doubles events, winning all her games until the finals. Unfortunately, she lost all six of her games on Monday.
Despite her losses in the U-15 finals, Jennifer can be satisfied with her overall performance. She was the only paddler in the U-19 girls group to surprise the eventual champion, Park Gahyeon of Korea, who is ranked 17th in the world. In her first U-19 league match, Jennifer, ranked 132nd, rallied splendidly to defeat Park 9-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-7. She then went on to win her group stage matches and defeated Kristal Melendez of Puerto Rico in the first knockout round.
However, Jennifer’s journey came to an end in the quarterfinals as she lost to U-19 silver medalist Lee Seungeun of Korea in straight sets. Lee eventually lost in the summit clash to Park.
Jennifer, who trains at the ITTC Center in Chennai under R Rajesh, had a stellar performance last month when she won all five gold medals at the South Asian Youth TT championship in Arunachal Pradesh.
Here are the results of Jennifer’s matches:
– U-15 girls singles (Final): Jennifer lost to Choi Nahyun of Korea 11-4, 11-6, 11-6.
– U-15 Girls Doubles (Final): Jennifer and her partner, Avisha Karmakar, lost to Sayanika Maji and Riana Bhoota 11-9, 11-9, 11-7.
– U-19 Girls Singles (quarterfinals): Jennifer lost to Lee Seungeun of Korea 11-9, 11-5, 11-6.
– Group 1: Jennifer defeated Park Gahyeon of Korea 9-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-7 and Julia Leal of Portugal 11-8, 8-11, 11-4, 11-2.
– Quarterfinals: Jennifer defeated Kristal Melendez of Puerto Rico 11-7, 9-11, 11-5, 11-7.
– Semifinals: Jennifer defeated Avisha Karmakar 11-9, 11-8, 11-2.
– Quarterfinals: Jennifer and Avisha defeated Mariana Gabriela and Angelina Cutipa of Peru 11-7, 11-6, 11-6.
– Quarterfinals: Jennifer and Avisha defeated Maria Jose and Alessandra Plores 11-6, 11-1, 11-4.