Aaron Farias is poised for a double crown at the Priority Gaspar Dias Open All Goa Major Ranking Table Tennis Tournament, reaching the Men’s and Boys U19 finals, where he will face Wesley Do Rosario and Chandan Caro respectively.
In Men’s semifinals, Wesley defeated Chandan 4-1, while Aaron outclassed Rishan Shaikh 4-0. In U19 semis, Chandan beat Ruhaan Shaikh 3-1 and Aaron defeated Rishan 3-1. The tournament is being held at Club Tennis de Gaspar Dias, Miramar, in aegis with Goa Table Tennis Association.
The Men’s event also witnessed some sensational performances, with veteran and former State player Venkatesh alias Gaurish Burye causing a major upset by edging out Goa State player Dhruva Kamat 3-2. Rolling back the years, Burye later went down 4-0 to Aaron Farias in the quarterfinals, but pushed him hard, taking two games to nine points and giving the reigning Men’s champion some anxious moments. Unranked Pushkar Virgincar also stunned former State champion Diljeet Velingkar 3-1 before bowing out to Rishan Shaikh 4-2.
In other Men’s quarterfinals, Chandan beat Kaushik Nair 4-0 and Wesley defeated Ruhaan Shaikh 4-0, while in U19, Chandan beat Yuvaan Sanke 3-0, Ruhaan overcame Neel Sanke 3-2, Aaron defeated Dhruva Kamat 3-1 and Rishan beat Yug Prabhu 3-0.
Yug Prabhu, a National-ranking bronze medallist, is poised for a double crown. Yug reached the Boys U13 and U15 finals, while reigning top seed Chandan Caro and Kaushik Nair also booked their places in the title clashes. Yug defeated Ishaan Colaso 3-0 in the U13 semifinals and Dhruva Kamat 3-2 in the U15 semifinals. In the U13 final, Yug will face Kaushik Nair, who defeated Yuvaan Sanke 3-2 in the semifinals, while in the U15 final, he will take on fellow Goan prodigious talent and national-ranking gold medallist Chandan Caro, who defeated Ishaan Colaso 3-0.
Earlier, in the U13 quarterfinals, Yug defeated Mission Lalpekhlua 3-0, Ishaan beat Aryan Kanji 3-0, Kaushik defeated Aarish Shaikh 3-0 and Yuvaan overcame Ashank Dalvi 3-0. In U15 quarterfinals, Chandan beat Kaushik Nair 3-0, Ishaan defeated Ashank Dalvi 3-0, Dhruva overcame Vedant Wagle 3-1 and Yug upset second seed Ruhaan Shaikh 3-1.
