Harmeet gunning for junior's title in Taiyuan

Harmeet Desai of Surat entered the junior boys' final of the Taiyuan International Junior and Cadet Open 2009 on Thursday. The 16-year-old unseeded player in the torney, blanked his Chinese rival Yang Zhuo 4-0 in the semifinals.

Harmeet dominated the table to such an extent that the scoreline looked as of a preliminary stage. Harmeet won 11-6 13-11 11-8 11-1. He will face Chinese Taipei's Wang Li Chung in the title round.

The teenager made full use of his China trip fortnight ago. Harmeet attended a coaching
camp in China along with Indian Men's players short listed for common wealth Games - 2010. The path was never easy though as Harmeet had to play qualifying rounds first. There he defeated Chen Liang of China 3-1 and Thailand's Tunviriyavejchakul Padasak 3-0, to enter the main draw.

In the pre-quarters playing aggressively, he wrapped the match in five games - 13-11 11-9 11-8 9-11 11-2 against Kuo Yu Fing, before ousting local favourite LI Minghao's challenge in the quarterfinals 11-6 11-4 11-9 9-11 14-12 in less than 45 minutes.

Taiyuan, the major city in the Chinese Province of Shanxi, has attracted more than 150 paddlers across the globe. It has become an annual stop on the ITTF Junior Circuit and an opportunity for players from foreign shores to test their skills in a country that possesses a quite incredible reservoir of talent.