ITTF World Youth C'ships 2025: India U19 boys reach final for the first time in history; U15 girls win bronze

In a historic first for Indian table tennis, the country's U19 boys' team stormed into the final of the 2025 ITTF World Youth Championships in Romania on Monday.

Up against a formidable opponents in the form of Chinese Taipei in the semi-finals, the Indian team comprising of rising stars Ankur Bhattacharjee, PB Abhinandh, and Priyanuj Bhattacharya registered a 3-2 win to advance to the gold medal match.

India will now face Japan in the final on Tuesday.

Bhattacharjee got India off to a good start in the semi-final, winning his first match against Hsu Hsien-Chia 3-2.

Though Chinese Taipei drew level in the next match with Kuo Guan-Hong beating Abhinandh 3-1, Bhattacharya put India back in the lead with a hard fought 3-2 win over Lin Chin-Ting.

Chinese Taipei once again fought back to equalise as Kuo took down Bhattacharjee 3-0 in straight games but Abhinandh, who had lost the first match, returned the favour with a 3-0 win over Hsu to seal a famous win for India.

Earlier, India had beaten France 3-0 in the quarter-finals to set up a semi-final clash against Chinese Taipei.

U15 girls win bronze

Meanwhile, the Indian U15 girls' team clinched the bronze medal following a 0-3 loss to South Korea in the semi-finals.

The Indian team comprising of Ankolika Chakraborty, Divyanshi Bhowmick, and Ananya Muralidharan – Abhinandh's younger sister – were of no match to the South Koreans.

The girls had earlier defeated Germany 3-1 in the quarter-finals.