Maharashtra paddlers Noel Pinto, Sanish Ambekar and Eric Fernandes, all safely advanced to the second round of the men’s singles event in the 11even Sports National Ranking (West Zone) Table Tennis Championships conducted by the Gujarat State Table Tennis Association at Rajkot Municipal Corporation ‘Veer Savarkar’ Indoor Stadium, Rajkot, Gujarat.
In a first round encounter, Pinto exhibited solid fighting qualities as he trailed 1-2, but then went on to win three tight games on the trot to put it across Reserve Bank of India’s Asif Haque 4-2 (6-11, 11-4, 9-11, 13-11, 12-10, 12-10). Ambekar was more in control against Delhi’s Prasad Peeyush and clinched a 4-1 (11-4, 16-14, 11-6, 10-12, 11-9) victory. Fernandes also came from behind to overcome LIC’s Ravi Joshi in six tough games winning 4-2 (6-11, 11-8, 11-4, 10-12, 13-11, 11-8).
Meanwhile, in a keenly contested and most exciting first round encounter, Birdie Boro of PSPB dropped the first two games but put up fantastic fight back to quell a spirited challenge from Vaneet Chopra of SPB and snatch a hard-fought 4-3 (9-11, 5-11, 14-12, 6-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-7) win.
In women’s singles action, top-seeded Madhurika Patkar made short work of Shweta Parte to sail into the pre-quarter-finals.The PSPB paddler defeated her RBI rival 4-1 (8-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-8, 11-9). Madhurika will next take on Maharashtra’s Shruti Amrute, who accounted for West Bengal’s Moumita Datta 4-1 (11-5, 5-11, 11-9, 13-11, 11-7) in the round of 16.
For fourth-seeded Manika Batra, who won the singles crown at Indore, it was a bit of struggle as she dropped two games to her Tamil Nadu opponent Vidya Narasimhan before pulling through at 4-2 (11-4, 5-11, 9-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-8).
Results – Men’s Singles (1st round): Noel Pinto (Mah) bt Asif Haque (RBI) 4-2 (6-11, 11-4, 9-11, 13-11, 12-10, 12-10); Sanish Ambekar (Mah) bt Prasad Peeyush (Del) 4-1 (11-4, 16-14, 11-6, 10-12, 11-9); Eric Fernandes (Mah) bt Ravi Joshi (LIC) 4-2 (6-11, 11-8, 11-4, 10-12, 13-11, 11-8). Birdie Boro (PSPB) bt Vaneet Chopra (SPB) 4-3 (9-11, 5-11, 14-12, 6-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-7); Rohit Chakraborty (LIC) bt Vighney Reddy (RBI) 4-2 (2-11, 11-9, 11-6, 9-11, 11-3, 12-10).