Bhiwandkar shocks Premkumar

Fourth seed Arup Basak Petroleum Sports Control Board breezed through to round two with a 21-7, 21-11, 21-11 win over Kalpesh Thakkar Gujarat. Despite a back strain the former National champion wrapped up the game in a mere 19 minutes. He now meets Rajesh Shelar of Railways, a 21-12, 21-13, 21-16 victor over qualifier KK Rai Maharashtra.

In the women8217;s section, Mallika Parekh surged ahead into the second round with a 21-13 22-20 21-14 verdict over Debosmita Das of Railways.

As many as ten players from Maharashtraqualified for the 64-player main draw. They were: Ashok Puri, Sharad Grover, Sanjay Nemlekar, JS Mohite, KK Rai, Mahendra Mohite, PG Kelkar, Kedar Kasbekar, Harish Shirsat and Swapnil Namjoshi. Dean Chill, Prasanjit Sarkar both Railways, Zarabjeet Singh, Amit Sen both Uttar Pradesh, Mahesh Vardharaj Gujarat and KS Chakravarti Tamil Nadu were the other qualifiers.

Making it to the women8217;s singles main draw were Leena Medekar Railways, G Madumiree Assam, G Sudlimand Tamil Nadu and Pallavi Hari UBI.

Results

Men8217;s singles 1st round: Rajdeep Sarkar PSCB bt Zubin Panthaki Rlys 21-18 23-21 21-15; Amrish Chatterjee Rlys bt JS Mohite Mah 21-9 21-17 21-17; Shivaji Dutta Rlys bt PG Kulkarni Mah 21-16 21-16 21-16; Kishalaya Basak Rlys bt Harish Shirsat Mah 19-21 21-17 21-12 21-19; Gandeep Bhiwandkar Rlys bt J Premkumar TN 21-14 21-14 17-21 21-18; Ganesh Kundu Rlys bt Sanjay Nemlekar Mah 21-19 21-14 19-21 22-20; Rohit Choudhary Rlys bt Abhay Gupta Raj 21-1321-5 21-14; Vaneet Chopra PNB Swapnil Namjoshi Mah 17-21 21-18 5-21 21-14 21-16; Souvik Dey Rlys bt KS Chakravarti TN 21-14 22-20 21-12; Rahul Prakash Rlys bt Mahendra Chiplunkar Mah 21-14 22-20 17-21 21-23 23-21; Rajesh Shelar Rlys bt KK Rai Mah 21-12 21-13 21-16; Arup Basak PSCB bt Kalpesh Thakkar Guj 21-7 21-11 21-11; S Sriram PSCB bt Zebarjeet Singh UP 21-6 21-15 21-11; Nachiket Chawate Rlys bt MS Mohite Mah 21-13 21-6 23-21; R Rajesh TN w/o Harsh Chopra Pun; S Ramaswamy PSCB bt Sharad Grover Mah 21-6 21-7 21-15; Subhajeet Saha Jr MP bt George Joseph Rlys 20-22 21-16 21-17 21-11; Prasanjit Sarkar Rlys w/o Malay Thakar Guj; Bhushan Thakur Rlys bt Mukul Boro Asm 25-23 21-13 21-8; Subhajeet Saha Bng bt Mahesh Vardharaja Guj 21-6 21-15 21-12; Nishant Kulkarni Rlys bt Soumyadeep Roy PSCB 21-19 21-11 11-21 17-21 21-18; Kelkar Kasbekar Mah w/o Amit Mukherjee Rlys; Debrata Saha Rlys bt Rajul Sheth Guj 21-19 21-11 21-15; Nupur Santra Rlys bt AshokPuri Mah 21-9 21-5 21-8; N Ravi Chandran TN bt Anupam Kanwar Asm 21-17 21-19 21-19; Sovik Basu Roy Rlys bt Amit Sen UP 21-17 21-14 21-11

Women8217;s singles 1st round: NR Indu BSB bt Janhvi Deshpande Mah 21-15 21-10 21-14; Mallika Parekh Mah bt Debosmita Das Rlys 21-13 22-20 21-14.

SELECTION OF PROBABLES FOR ASIAN TT

The Khar Gymkhana tournament has grown in importance with the event forming a basis for the selection of the Asian Championships in Osaka, Japan this September.

Moolchand Chowhan, the Table Tennis Federation of India TTFI chief witnessing the Rs 1,20,000 prize-money tournament informed that eleven players each from the men8217;s and women8217;s sections will be picked as probables for the training camp to be held in Patiala.

Top paddlers of the country are competing in the tourney with the exception of Arjan Dutta down with jaundice and Sunil Babras, who has perplexedly been denied permission to participate by employers Dena Bank.

In the women8217;s section,Olympian Ambika Radhika has opted out due to personal reasons.