New Delhi: Indian paddler Mudit Dani finished his campaign with a men’s doubles bronze medal from the US Open Championships at the Fort Worth Convention Center in Texas on Thursday. Mudit, who was playing with Canada’s Marko Medjugorac, gave a tough fight to the Japanese pair of Hiromitsu Kasahara and Fujimura Tomoya before going down 4-11, 3-11, 5-11, 7-11 in the semi-finals. This was the 20-year-old Mudit’s first-ever senior medal from an International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) event.
“It’s very special to win my first ITTF senior medal at such a prestigious event like the US Open. This would be a huge source of inspiration for me to continue working hard. I would like to thank MP Singh and TTFI for their support,” said Mudit, who has jumped 199 spots in the U-21 rankings this year to climb up to 86 from 285 at the start of the season.
His partnership with World No. 248 Medjugorac has worked wonders for the pair throughout the week. They had begun their campaign with a gritty 17-15, 11-4, 10-12, 11-6 win over USA’s Tianrui Zhang and Wang Zhe in the opening round, which was followed by a tough 11-6, 11-5, 10-12, 11-8 victory over Puerto Rican Birriel brothers, Oscar and Ruben.
The quarter-final proved to be yet another difficult match where Dani and Medjugorac had to dig deep to register a 4:2 (11-9, 6-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-9, 11-9) win against the American pair of Tian Ye and Si Zhigao.
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