Raegan Albuquerque proved his dominance in the Men’s Singles event at the Khar Gymkhana –TSTTA- All Mumbai 4- Star Table Tennis tournament organised by Khar Gymkhana and sponsored by DCB Bank under the auspices of TSTTA at Khar Gymkhana last night. On his way to the finals, Raegan didn’t encounter much resistance from his oppnents, except for dropping a game to Parthav Kelkar in quarter finals and losing two games in best of 7 to Sanskar Basak in the semi finals.
In the finals played agaist Sagar Kasture, Raegan had to really work very hard, as Sagar who plays with pen holder grip, was extremely good at long rallies and quick third ball finish on many occasions. Sagar even led 2-1 after the third game. But, Raegan recovered quickly to take the next three games in a row and match 4-2 , with his more forceful attack. Sagar however won a Gold in Boys Under 19 event , defeating Parth Magar 4-1 in the final. Sagar is a gift to Table Tennis Circle from Jayesh Lakhani Table Tennis Academy ( JLTTA) , presently trains with Former National level TT players Nilesh Pandirkar and Rajendra Sawant.
In the Women’s Singles final, Sampada Bhiwandkar had a tough time overcoming her Junior Divyanshi Bhowmick . Sampada won the first three games and took a comfortable 3-0 lead against Divyanshi. But, Divyanshi really played well at this stage, catching her opponent on the wrong foot on few occasions. She also attacked her opponent with her quick backhand jabs and forehand finish on Sampada’s extreme forehand . In the decider, both played very well till the scores were levelled at 10-10 . This situation helped Sampada, as she didn’t stop attacking and won this final game and match over extra points.
Earlier, while playing in the Girls Singles Under-19 final, Sampada faced the challenge from Ananya Chande who rallied splendidly. Ananya won against Sampada 3-2 with the help of her good service receiving and placements. She also attacked well on Sampada’s extreme forehand corner, where she earned maximum points. In the Girls Under 17 final, Hardee Patel proved her supremacy defeating Sana D’Souza in three straight games. Hardee had won all her matches 3-0 against her opponents, before reaching the finals.
Divyanshi Bhwmick who also played in Girls Under-15 event, scored an easy 3-0 win over Arpita Borhade in the finals of this event. She however, missed her triple crown this time, as she could not participate in the Girls Under-17 and Girls -19 events, as she was away playing in the WTT Youth Contender at Thailand, from where she returned with a Gold medal. She has already won three triple crowns this season and needs a grand felicitation from TSTTA.
Little Palak Jhawar from Utpal Sanghavi School, Juhu and Jayesh Lakhani Table Tennis Academy ( JLTTA), won double crown in the Girls U-11 and Girls Under 13 events. And in both these events, she scored fluent victoris over top seed Ritanya Deolekar and Prisha Daga respectively. Her superb ball control and concentration during her match at this age is to be highly appreciated.
Junior Parth Magar who also plays at international level in WTT Youth Contender tournaments, struggled to beat Daksh Talwar 3-2 in a well contested match in Boys Under-15. He however lost 2-3 to Vineet Deepak in another exciting match filled with action, in Boys Under -17 event. In his third finals, he lost to Sagar Kasture 1-4.
Second seeded Zihan Beddingwala, who knocked out 3rd seeded Aakarshan Yadav in semi finals of Boys Under-13 Singles and denying him his second gold medal, went on to defeat Param Bhiwandkar 3-1 in the finals. Param had earlier defeated Ayaan Athar who had toppled top seeded Zain Shaikh. A good competition was noticed in this and Boys Under -11 events, which is good for the game. In Boys Under -11 event final , Aakarshan Yadav beat Rishi Bhangadia 3-1 to win Gold medal. Incidentally, Aakarshan had earlier beaten Rishi in Boys Under13 Quarter finals.
Men’s Veterans’ 39+ event which had attracted good number of entries, also noticed very good competition. In this event, Kiran Salian emerged Winner with a Gold medal, after he defeated second seeded Kedar Kasbekar 3-0. Kiran had earlier toppled top seeded Suhas Rane before reaching the final. In the Women’s Veterans’ 39+ event, Shravani Dhapre beat Mythili Sodhi 3-1 in a four gamme battle, to emerge a Champion in this event.
Mr. S. Ramaswamy, former International TT player was the chief guest and gave away the prizes to all winners and quarter finalists, along with officials of organisers and representative of Sponsors Mr. Sridhar Sheshadri, President and Chief Risk Officer, DCB Bank.
