Karnataka’s Vinod fights back to down Gaikwad


M. Vinod of Karnatak displayed tremendous fighting spirit as he recovered from the loss of the first game to defeat LIC’s Prakash Gaikwad in three keenly contested encounters at 15-25, 17-11, 23-18 in a men’s singles first round league match of the 49th LIC of India-Senior National Carrom Championship 2021-2022 at the Shree Halari Visa Oswal Samaj Hall, Dadar (East) on Wednesday.

This event is being organised by the All India Carrom Federation (AICF) and hosted by the Maharashtra Carrom Association (MCA) and is co-sponsored ONGC, Indian Oil, Union Bank of India and Hindustan Petroleum are the co-sponsors of this 5-day championship.

Vinod’s compatriot B. Rajesh also encountered a stiff challenge from Bihar’s Md. Barkatali but managed to snatch a close 25-1, 7-25, and 25-14 win.

In another match that went the distance, Y.D.S. Ramesh of Andhra Pradesh got the better of V. Shivananda Reddy (CCSCSB) recording a hard-fought 25-17, 14-23, and 20-14 victory.

Meanwhile, World champion and top seed Prashant More of Reserve Bank of India warmed up nicely blanking Rajasthan’s P.K. Sethi  25-0, 25-0. More’s teammate and fourth seed Zaheer Pasha also enjoyed a good outing defeating Bengal’s V. Rupesh Rao 25-0, 25-7, while eighth seed Irshad Ahmed of Vidarbha  outplayed Goa’s Ganpat Gosavi romping to a 25-0, 25-0 win.

Results – Men’s first round league: Prashant More (RBI) beat P.K. Sethi (Raj) 25-0, 25-0; K. Ramesh Babu (PSPB) beat Himanshu Shekar (Chd) 25-1, 24-21; Pankaj Pawar (JISL) beat V. Satish (BSNL) 25-0, 25-0; S. Ganeshan (TN) beat Dinesh Kumar Sahu (NABARD) 25-0, 25-0; Nikhil Lokhande (Vid) beat Pravin Kumar (Raj) 25-12, 25-0; Rahul Solanki (CCSCSB) beat Atom Joel (Pun) 25-0, 25-0; Arokiraj Franklin (TN) beat Nand Bangang (AP) 25-0, 25-0; 4-Zaheer Pasha (RBI) beat V. Rupesh Rao (Ben) 25-0, 25-7; 8-Irshad Ahmed (Vid) beat Ganpat Gosavi (Goa) 25-0, 25-0; 5-K. Srinivas (PSPB) beat Zahoor Ulhab (Del) 25-0, 25-1; Mohd Mushtaq (MP) beat Chatung Bagang (AP) 25-0, 25-0; Jalaj Kumar (Bihar) beat Sudip Shil (Tri) 25-5, 25-2; B. Rajesh (Kar) beat Md. Barkatali (Bih) 25-1, 7-25, 25-14; Y.S.D. Ramesh (AP) beat V. Shivananda Reddy (CCSCSB) 25-17, 14-23, 20-14; M. Vinod (Kar) beat Prakash Gaikwad (LIC) 15-25, 17-11, 23-18.

Sunil Kedar, Minister of Sports & Youth Welfare, Government of Maharashtra plays a shot during the inauguration of the  49th LIC of India-Senior National Carrom Championship.  2021-2022