Central Asian Youth Table Tennis Championships:
Iranian girls rout Uzbekistan to close in on title
Iranian girls continued their winning run at the Central Asian Youth Table Tennis Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan, with a 3-0 victory over Uzbekistan on Friday.
Vania Yavari claimed a first win for the Iranian team with a 3-1 triumph against Arujan Kamalova, before Setayesh Iloukhani came out victorious in straight game against Asel Erkebaeva.
Yekta Larkian rounded off the victory for the Iranian under-19 team when she defeated Adelina Khasanova in a five-game thriller.
This is was a second win in as many matchups for the Iranian girls, who secured qualification for the 29th Asian Youth Table Tennis Championships – starting June 26 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Sitting atop the four-team table with four points, Iran had begun its campaign with a 3-2 victory over the host on Friday.
Kazakhstan bounced back from the first-day setback to beat Kyrgyzstan 3-0 on Saturday.
The Iranian girls will take on Kyrgyzstan in their final outing in Almaty today.
In the men’s draw, however, the Iranian team got off to a losing start on Friday, suffering a 3-2 defeat against Uzbekistan.
Iranian Samran Karimi fell short in four games against Shokhrukh Iskandarov, before world No. 6 Benyamin Faraji came from behind to beat Diyorbek Dilshodov in five games and level the scoreline at 1-1.
Mohammad Habibi gave Iran the lead when he defeated Khurshid Akhmedov 3-0, but Uzbekistan rallied from behind through Iskandarov and Dilshodov, as both came out on top against Faraji and Karimi, respectively, in five games.