Khwaish, Pratha win gold in Qatar tourney

Ahmedabad: Gujarat paddlers Pratha Pawar and Khwaish Lotia won gold medals at the ongoing World Table Tennis (WTT) Youth Contender Doha 2024 table tennis tournament. Ahmedabad-girl Pratha decimated Pakistan’s Hoor Fawad 3-0 in the U-17 girls’ semifinal and brushed aside Hend Zaza of Saudi Arabia by an identical scoreline to claim the winner’s trophy.There was a double delight for Pratha as she teamed up with Sujal Kukadia and entered the final of the U-15 mixed doubles event where they went down 1-3 to the German pairing of Alexander Uhing and Elisa Meyer to settle for a silver.In the U-13 girls’ event, Khwaish stormed into the finals after crushing Leen Sager 3-0 of Saudi Arabia in the semifinal. Two other paddlers from Gujarat — Dhyey Jani and Aayush Tanna — bowed out in the quarterfinal of the U-17 boys’ event. sDhyey lost 0-3 to Austria’s Julian Rzihauscek, while Aayush lost by a similar scoreline to Ignas Sisanovas of Lithuania.