The recently concluded Khar Gymkhana- TSTTA district ranking table tennis tournament, offered impressive performances coming from not only juniors but also from Masters in in the 40+ and 60+ category. Teenager Sharveya Samant gave his best performance in the Men’s Singles event. Beating top seeded Sagar Kasture in semi finals, that too in straight four games, clearly hinted that he would lift the title this time. And he took this opportunity, while overcoming the challenge from Shivam Shrivastav in the final. Though he conceded two games before winning 4-2, Sharveya proved that he had better strokes, excellent ball control and good services with him.
Dhruv Shah
Another teenager Dhruv Shah proved that he had no match in Boys Uner 17 and Boys Under -19 categories. Winning both finals in straight games, Dhruv clearly indicated that he stands tall, at the local level. It remains to be seen how he performs against better opposition in the forthcoming Zonal Nationals at Himachal Pradesh. Viyan Gada, Raghav Mahajan and Zihan Beddingwala seemed to be great fighters, as they won their titles overcoming stiff resistence from their respective opponents in the finals of U-11 U-13 and U-15 groups.
Myraa Sangelkar
Among the girls, both Ananya Chande and Sampada Bhiwandkar have impressed with their performances in the recent past. Both are attacking players and never miss an opportunity to attack first. But, in Women’s singles final when they clashed, Sampada demonstrated her skills to establish her supremacy to lift the title. Ananya however, displayed her superiority, winning the Girls-Under 19 title, while overcoming little resistence from Risha Mirchandani.
Parin Thakkar
In the other age groups of Girls singles, Urvi Churi, Niva Chaughule and Myraa Sangelkar who are blessed with good height, took good avantage of it while reaching out to the ball well, especially while countering the top spin attack of their opponents. But, they didn’t attempt the drops and quick tap to puzzle their opponents during the long rallies. In the lowest age group of Girls U-11, Vedika Jaiswal has been undisputed winner, though she faced some resistence from Trisha Ludbe in the final. She should now focus more in higher age groups, to improvise her skills and face better competition.
Dr. Sadiya Vanjara
Among other youngsters, Sagar Kasture, Vineet Deepak, Dev Hingorany, Vibhum Sadhale, Akanksh Sahoo, Vaishnavi Jaiswal , Siya Hingorany, Risha Mirchandani, Sana D’Souza, Sara Ramaiya and few others are talented promising players,; but, were unlucky not to make it to the top. We certainly missed Divyanshi Bhowmick in this tournament, as she was out of India, performing well at the Youth Contender series. In her absence, her sister Hitangshi did well and went down fighting against Vaishnavi Jaiswal 1-3 in semi final of Girls U-17 .
Trophies & medals on display before presentation
In the Masters’ Singles events Parin Thakkar won his maiden title in Men’s 39 + group, beating Nitish Kumar 3-2 in the finals. On his way to finals, Parin had caused a major upset, defeating top seeded Vishal Yadav in quarter finals and later 3rd seeded Nilesh Gohil in semi finals. Parin’s aggressive forehand attack on both the flanks surprised his opponents.
The successful trio of TSTTA Sameer, Sumedh and Sachin
Renowned Physiotherapist Dr. Sadiya Vanjara beat Shravani Dhapre in Women’s 39 + group to lift the title, while reigning National Masters’ ( 69+) Champion Ulhas Shirke beat Mahesh Shetye 3-0 to lift the Men’s 59+ title. Earlier in the semi finals Ulhas had beaten Nitish Kumar 3-2 , while Mahesh beat Percy Mehta 3-0.
Winners in different events pose with their trophies and medals along with officials and guests, after the prize distribution ceremony
It was a well organised tournament with proper coordination between Khar Gymkhana and TSTTA officials and good support from Mr. Savio as chief referee. The Gala dinner arranged by Khar Gymkhana after the prize distribution ceremony for all the participants was a real treat. Attractive trophies and medals, besides cash prizes were presented to all the winners, runners and semi finalists.