World Junior TT: Ankita goes down fighting in quarters

India's Ankita Das fought valiantly and stretched World No 10 China's Ruochen Gu to six games before losing in the quarter-finals of the Volkswagen World Junior Table Tennis Championships, in Bahrain on Sunday.

With this defeat, the Indian challenge at the world meet ended.

The 18-year-old managed to take two games off the Chinese opponent and came mightly close to forcing a decider before surrendering 3-11, 2-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-9, 12-14.

Ranked 35, Ankita who made it to the main draw through qualification, had caused a major upset on Saturday when she defeated higher-ranked Hsien-Tzu Cheng of Chinese Taipei 8-11, 15-13, 10-12, 11-8, 11-7, 11-4 in the pre-quarterfinals.

Ankita was the only last-eight opponent who stretched the Chinese to six games while the other quarter-finalists, taking on the other Chinese, failed to win even a single game.

After being overwhelmed in the first two games by a technically correct player, Ankita acclimatised well to the speed of play.

Incidentally, it was the biggest test for any member of the successful Chinese quartet with the previous three contests all having been decided in straight games.

Chen Meng beat Germany's Petrissa Solja 11-6, 11-9, 11-6, 11-9, Gu Yuting overcame Russia's Yana Noskova 11-6, 13-11, 11-2, 11-7 and Zhu Yuling accounted for Japan's Ayuka Tanioka 11-2, 12-10,11-2 11-5.

Even as the Chinese had a full house to cheer them, it was Ankita who won several hearts with her excellent performance.

"We knew it was difficult to get past the Chinese who was aggressive. But after being two games down, Ankita showed her capabilities. I am happy she fully utilised the opportunity," said India coach Bhawani Mukherjee.