PANAJI: Noel Noronha and Ashutosh Pednekar were amongst a host of Goan players to make it to the second round of the veterans competition on the opening day of Gadre Gaspar Dias Open 2022 tennis championships being played at the Clube Tennis de Gaspar Dias courts-Miramar and at Panjim Gymkhana.
The annual tennis tournament by Clube Tennis de Gaspar Dias, Goa’s first tennis club, is being organised under the aegis of the Goa State Tennis Association (GSTA), with support from Gadre Group.
With over 100 entries in the veterans section, the event kicked off on Thursday morning with age-group 45+ singles and 90+ doubles for men.
Goa’s well-known player Ashutosh Pednekar secured walkover in his 45+ singles outing, while a popular veteran Noel Noronha scored a 6-1 victory over Rajashekar Umrani in the same age-group event.
In doubles, Goa’s Ganesh Vernekar and Sadguru Dessai defeated Raksekhar Shettar-Nandi duo 6-2. Sachin Dukle and Kevin Rebello also made their way into the next round following a walkover.
Elsewhere, Gordon Lewis overcame a stiff challenge from Vijay Mangaonkar, with a close 7-6 win. Yenepoya Ajml beat Ravindra Bali 6-4 in another close encounter.
Other results: Vishwanath – C Langoti beat Allan F – Signapurkar 6-3; Gholap – Hemant B beat Adeep-Ashraf 6-1, Cusrow Sadri beat Nikunj Gupta 6-3, Rajesh D’Souza beat Ajit Parulekar 6-2, Suresh Paul beat Nitesh Rungta 6-1.
Gadre Gaspar Dias Open 2022 tennis championships, which also comprises events for juniors, youth, and seniors; have prizes amounting to INR 1,55,000.
