Aman falls to Noel; Sanil sizzles

Third seeded Aman Balgu had to pay the price for his impatience as second seeded Noel Pinto playing with calmness outplayed him to make the mens singles title round of the Matunga Gymkhana

Third seeded Aman Balgu had to pay the price for his impatience as second seeded Noel Pinto playing with calmness outplayed him to make the mens singles title round of the Matunga Gymkhana-All Mumbai ranking table tennis tournament hosted by Matunga Gymkhana here.

Having beaten Noel twice this season first at the Goregaon tourney and then the last weeks KRC tourney – Aman was expected to dominate his encounter with Noel. But it turned into a battle of wits between the two. While Noel stayed confident inspite of trailing 2-3, Aman surprisingly was impulsive and somewhat jittery and thus made too many unforced errors. This ultimately proved to be his ownfall as Noel wisely controlled the pace and kept varying the direction of his strokes to merge victor with a scoreline reading 11-8,7-11,11-5,7-11,7-11,11-7,11-5 in his favour. It was thus a sweet revenge for Noel after being at the receiving end twice this season.

The other semifinal between the top seeded Sanil Shetty and fourth seeded Nilesh Pandirkar was quite a lively affair. Though Sanil won in straight games,it was a tie that saw India No.3 exhibiting his tremendous powerful strokes on both flanks,while Nilesh using all his guile to check him. The RCF stalwart did succeed to some extent,but then Sanil showed his nerves of steel by playing the important points with terrific power and speed. At times Sanil hit some lightening forehand drives which left Nilesh spellbound as the ball passed him before he could react on numerous occasions.

However,there was a shock in store for youth boys top seed Noel Pinto as Ravindra Kotiyan played with spunk and speed to beat him 11-0,5-11,11-9,11-9,11-9. Ravindra next faces Nishaad Shah,who overpowered Rhys Albuquerque 6-11,11-9,11-8,11-5,11-5.

Results

Mens singles (Semifinals): 1- Sanil Shetty bt 4- Nilesh Pandirkar 11-4,11-8,11-9,11-9; 2- Noel Pinto bt 3- Aman Balgu 11-8,7-11,11-5,7-11,7-11,11-7,11-5. Womens singles (Semifinals): Shweta Parte bt Joanne DSouza 11-8,11-5,11-8,11-7; Mrunmayee Mhatre bt Shruti Borkar 11-7,11-1,11-9,11-1. Youth boys singles (Semifinals). Ravindra Kotiyan bt 1- Noel Pinto 11-9,5-11,11-9,11-9,11-9; Nishaad Shah bt Rhys Albuquerque 6-11,11-9,11-8,11-5,11-5. Jr boys singles (Semifinals): Nishaad Shah bt Shubham Ambre 11-8,11-6,11-9,13-11; 7-11, 11-6,11-2,14-12,11-7; Ravindra Kotiyan bt Rhys Albuquerque 11-7,13-11,11-6,11-8. Sub-jr girls singles (Semifinals): Dyuti Patki bt Antara Jaggi 11-5,11-3,11-5,11-6; Srushti Haleangadi bt Simran Haria 11-7,11-7,11-3,7-11,7-11,11-7. TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS (Final): New India Assurance bt Air India 3-1: (Harish Shirsat lost to Ram Kadam 7-11,9-11; Suhas Rane bt Suhas Dandekar 11-7,11-3; Harish/Suhas bt Kadam/Dandekar 11-2,11-7; Suhas Rane bt Kadam 11-4,11-7).

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Aman falls to Noel; Sanil sizzles

Third seeded Aman Balgu had to pay the price for his impatience as second seeded Noel Pinto playing with calmness outplayed him to make the mens singles title round of the Matunga Gymkhana

Third seeded Aman Balgu had to pay the price for his impatience as second seeded Noel Pinto playing with calmness outplayed him to make the mens singles title round of the Matunga Gymkhana