by Wade Townsend

Japan’s Naoya Kawakami and Shunsuke Tsukidate combined with Australia’s Benjamin Lander to secure the gold medal in style today at the Australian Junior & Cadet Open.

The Japanese players were a class above, only dropping one game on their way to the top of the podium. And while Lander was unable to get a win on the board, it was an opportunity for the Australian to benefit being in a team with the best athletes the tournament has to offer.

Australia A had to settle for silver as they went down 3-1 to AUS-JPN, but they weren’t disappointed with their overall result.

“I played a good match against Japan and I feel pumped for the singles and doubles.” Rohan Dhooria

It was a great learning experience for Australia’s top junior Rohan Dhooria.

“I felt their defensive rally play was very good and their backhand flick had lots of variation. I have to learn how to combat this, and also introduce it in to my own game” Rohan Dhooria.

Meanwhile Bob Liang, while finishing with silver, kept a clean sheet in the team’s event and is feeling sharp heading in to the singles and doubles tomorrow.

“After all our the tough matches I ended up with a 100% record. I am very happy with my performance and hopefully will keep it up in my following matches.”  Bob Liang

The individual matches kick off  tomorrow at 9:00 local time (GMT+10). Find the full schedule for Day Three here.