India’s young paddlers ended with a rich haul at the Ghana Junior and Cadet Open, clinching a bagful of medals, which included seven gold, three silvers and two bronze medals at Accra on Friday.
Ananya Chande and Diya Chitale – both from Maharashtra – were the stars of the show, accounting for nine medals (seven gold, one silver and one bronze).
Chitale was invincible in the junior girls’ singles category, picking up her first gold on a canter. She then combined with Nandeshwaree Jalim of Mauritius to bag two more gold, the junior doubles and the team category to complete a grand hat-trick.
Ananya Chande did one better than Chitale, bagging four gold medals, starting with the mini-cadet girls’ singles title. She went on to clinch a gold each in the cadet girls’ singles, doubles and the team category too.
Chitale also clinched a silver in the junior doubles (along with Ruby Chan of England) and a bronze in the junior girls’ singles.
Mainak Nistala and Arnav Manoj Karnavar also added to the tally for India, combining to clinch two silver medals in the cadet boys’ doubles and the team category, where they went down fighting to the Nigerian pair of Taiwo Mati and Jamiu Ayanwale.
Karnawar picked up a bronze in the cadet boys’ singles as well, losing to Nigeria’s Jamiu 2-3 in a closely fought semi-final.