Manav defeats U-21 World No. 8

​Minsk (Belarus): India’s prodigious young paddler Manav Vikash Thakkar scored an easy 3-0 victory over Russia’s Lev Katsman in the quarterfinals to assure himself a place in the last four and at least a bronze medal for his exploits but had to earlier display his prowess as he eked out a hard-fought 3-2 win against World No. 8 of the U-21 men’s singles category, Yuki Matsuyama of Japan, in the quarterfinals of the ITTF Challenge Belgosstrakh Belarus Open here in Minsk.  

Buoyant after the big win, Manav didn’t let Russia's Katsman settle into the game as he breezed past him with easy 11-5, 11-7 and 15-13 wins to progress into the semi-finals. In the men’s doubles category, the duo of Harmeet-Sanil couldn’t move past the combination of Oleksandr Didukh of Ukraine and Lubomir Pistej of Slovakia in their opening round of 16 clash as they went down 1-4 to bow out of the tournament.