Indian TT players make merry at WTT Youth Contender Meet in Tunisia

Picking up the threads from where he left off in Otocec, Payas Jain outwitted Tom 7-11, 11-4, 11-4, 15-13 in the summit clash of the WTT Youth Contender final in Tunisia on Sunday.

India's Payas Jain claimed his second successive under-17 boys title after defeating Tom Closset of Belgium 3-1 in the WTT Youth Contender final in Tunis.

Indian TT players make merry at WTT Youth Contender Meet in Tunisia (Twitter/FILE)

Picking up the threads from where he left off in Otocec, Payas outwitted Tom 7-11, 11-4, 11-4, 15-13 in the summit clash on Sunday.

The Delhi lad, who won gold in the same category in Slovenia last week, had a bad start to the final but came back strongly to go up 2-1.

However, in the fourth game, his opponent squandered a couple of game points to let the Indian finish in style.

In his semi-final, Payas defeated Preyesh Raj Suresh 16-14, 11-8, 11-8.

Despite his upper hand in the first game, the Tamil Nadu boy could not breach Payas' confidence and finally settled with the bronze.

Ankur Bhattacharjee, who played an enduring semi-final against Tom Closset, settled for the bronze.

In under-19 boys, Payas, however, failed to cross the semi-final hurdle yet again on Sunday.

The Indian signed off with a bronze after going down to Louis Laffineur 1-3 (11-9, 10-12, 4-11, 9-11).

In the other semifinal, Maharashtra lad Deepit Patel went down 3-11, 4-11, 7-11 to Adrien Rassanfosse, also a Belgian. Adrien became the eventual winner when he defeated his compatriot Tom in the final.

Left-handed Preyesh made up for his loss to take the Under-15 Boys title.

He downed Ankur Bhattacharjee in the final 3-1 (11-8, 15-13, 11-13, 11-9). The West Bengal paddler ascended the podium for the second time, this time winning a silver medal.

Another Indian, P B Abhinand of Tamil Nadu, settled with a bronze after losing his semi-final 9-11, 12-10, 7-11, 1-11 to Ankur, earlier in the day.

In the under-11 boys, it was an Indian show again as Vishruth Ramakrishnan claimed the gold medal after accounting for local boy Amir Essid. The Tamil Nadu boy won 11-4, 11-3, 11-7.