Central Asian Youth Table Tennis Championships:
Boys crowned as Iran completes title double
The Iranian boys’ under-19 team defeated Kyrgyzstan 3-0 to walk away with the winner’s trophy at the Central Asian Youth Table Tennis Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
The triumph meant Iran made a clean sweep of double team titles in Almaty, after the country’s female team also beat Kyrgyzstan in emphatic fashion to lift the silverware.
Benyamin Faraji put the Iranian quadruple in front with a 3-0 (11-3, 11-6, 13-11) win against Islam Ibragimov, before Amir-Abbas Hodaei and Mohammad Habibi also came out victorious against Abai Kasymov and Nuradil Tologonov, respectively, in straight games to secure a second victory in three outings for Iran at the four-team event.
The Iranian boys began their campaign with a 3-2 loss to Uzbekistan but went out to beat the host with the same scoreline.
Kazakhstan defeated Uzbekistan 3-2 on the final day as three teams finished on five points, though Iran stood on top of the table to qualify for June’s Asian Youth Table Tennis Championships in Tashkent.
Earlier on Sunday, Setayesh Iloukhani, Vania Yavari, and Effat Ranjbar all came out on top in straight games against their Kyrgyz opponents to steer Iran to a third victory in as many matches in the girls contests.
Iranian girls came from behind twice to beat the host 3-2 in their opener and then eased to a 3-0 win against Uzbekistan.