The 1st TNS Jewellers Panjim Gymkhana all-Goa tennis tournament reaches the half-way stage on Thursday with the race for supremacy in all the categories, heating up. The tournament has been organised under the aegis of Goa State Tennis Association.
Up in the 45+ Singles event – Manoj Pandey, Mano Chhabra, Richard Lockhart and Ashwin Chandiok booked their respective semi-final slots.
In a close contest, strong contender Ashwin beat experienced Goan racquet sports star Noel Noronha 6-4 in the quarters. Elsewhere, Manoj Pandey beat Dmitry Smirnov 6-2, Mano Chhabra beat Prasad Fadte 6-3, while Richard Lockhart beat Rajnish Dhall 6-2.
In the men’s singles event, Rajaram Kundaikar got the better of Anurag Agarwal 6-4 in one of the hard-fought encounters of the day. There wasn’t much challenge for Anant Kochhar though, as he outclassed Rohan Lotlikar 6-0. Elsewhere, Suraj Sadanah beat Sriram 6-1.
Over in the boys segment, Arhan Gaonkar brushed off the challenge from Timofei Surova 6-1; even as the spotlight turned on two of the youngest participants Ethan Ataide and Ivan Henriques going head to head. Ethan, aged 8, was on top for the majority of the match but the 7-year-old Ivan showed glimpses of his potential with some powerful shots. In the end though, the supremacy of Ethan was never in doubt, and he won 6-0.
In the men’s doubles event, Bulu/ Richard beat Suraj/ Kushal 6-2, Prithvi/ Kshitij overcame the challenge of Allan/ Ojaswi 6-4. There was mixed doubles action as well on the third day of the tournament where Bulu/ Tanya beat Dustan/ Lara 6-1, Prajat/ Tashina downed Michael/ Lisa 6-0, Prithvi/ Atika trounced Sriram/ Stania 6-2.
