Snehit clinches singles silver, doubles bronze at Kazakhstan International Open

Hyderabad: Hyderabad’s table tennis player S Fidel R Snehit had an impressive outing as he clinched silver in the men’s singles and then partnered with Sudhanshu Grover to clinch a bronze medal in the men’s doubles at the 2021 ITTF Kazakhstan International Open, on Sunday. Snehit, who is world no 405, defeated higher ranked players […]

Hyderabad: Hyderabad’s table tennis player S Fidel R Snehit had an impressive outing as he clinched silver in the men’s singles and then partnered with Sudhanshu Grover to clinch a bronze medal in the men’s doubles at the 2021 ITTF Kazakhstan International Open, on Sunday.

Snehit, who is world no 405, defeated higher ranked players like world No.136 Pavel Platonov of Bulgaria in semifinals 4-1 (11-5, 11-3, 11-5, 6-11, 11-8) and world No.182 Ali Al Khadrawi of Saudi Arabia 4-2 in quarterfinals to storm into his first ever finals in the men’s category. He lost to the world No.46 Kiril Gerassimenko of Kazakhstan 1-4 (6-11, 9-11, 3-11, 11-9, 6-11) in the gold medal match.

Snehit and his partner Sudhanshu Grover lost to Kazakhstan’s Kiril Gerassimenko-Alan Kurmangaliyev 2-3 (11-8, 2-11, 6-11, 12-10, 5-11) in the semifinals to settle for a bronze medal. Snehit, who had won title at Jordan Open in the junior’s category in 2017, entered the men’s category for the first time.

A student of Somnath Ghosh MLR UTT Academy, Snehit is happy with his performance. “Winning two international medals in a tournament by beating better ranked players is something to cheer about. I could maintain consistency in this tournament. I am sure that I can come up with good performances by making amendments in certain areas of the game. I thank my coach, Somnath Ghosh and physical fitness trainer Hirak Bagchi and the Academy founder Amarnath Reddy for their wonderful support.” Coach Somnath Ghosh congratulated Snehit on his achievement.