Top seed Payas Jain made it to the main draw of the Under-19 boys’ singles section of the South Asian Youth Table Tennis Championships after beating Bhutan’s Tendin Tshering and Nepal’s Bania Bisho in straight games to top Group I here on Tuesday. India’s Ankur Bhattacharjee also entered the main draw after beating Sujau Mohamed Thabin of Maldives and Gesandu Peiris of Sri Lanka 3-0 in Group Two. Ridoy Mohutasin Ahmed of Bangladesh topped Group Three and his compatriot Bavam Ramhim Liyan secured a place in the main draw by topping Group Four.
Nepal’s Bishow, Sri Lanka’s Peiris and Batagoda Gamage and Maldives’ Khalid Akhyar Ahmed also qualified for the knockout stage by finishing second in the four groups, starting on Wednesday. In the Girls Under-19 section, India’s Yashaswini Ghorpade and Suhana Saini topped Group I and II respectively, while Maldives’ Fathimath Dhema Ali topped Group III to qualify for the second stage.
