Stiga Cosco Gujarat State Table Tennis Championships 2020
Top seeds Frenaz, Manush retain crowns
Gandhidham, FEB 1 : Top seeds Frenaz Chipia and Manush Shah continued their dominance as they triumphed in Stiga Cosco Gujarat State Table Tennis Championships 2020 Women and Men’s final respectively at Gandhidham late Sunday evening. Surat-based Frenaz defeated her citymate Filzahfatema Kadri while Baroda’s Manush Shah outplayed Kaushal Bhatt of Bhavnagar.
The three-day State Championships 2020 was organised by Gujarat State Table Tennis Association with the support of Kachchh District Table Tennis Association.
Men’s final was the last match of the tournament played late in the evening on Super Sunday. It promised to be a thriller after Kaushal beat Ahmedabad’s Chitrax Bhatt in a relatively easy match while Manush struggled past Ahmedabad’s Dhairya Parmar in the semifinals.
However, it was a complete contrast to the expectations. Manush riding on his outstanding serve and first return foxed Kaushal on regular intervals. The Bhavnagar paddler did his best and made a comeback in the third game but it was sheer consolation as Manush ran away with the match with a 11-6 11-8 10-12 11-5 11-6 scoreline.
Women’s final was no different as Frenaz romped home without much sweat. Filzah did produce some finest shots of the final, especially down the line winners. “Filzah was good in patches, but I know her game. Best thing is we all got to play (competitive matches) before the Nationals. Everyone was playing after a year,” said Frenaz as she summed up her 11-9 11-6 9-11 9-11 11-7 11-5 win.
The semifinal round was the all-Surat affair. Filzahfatema dominated Aafrien Murad giving the latter no room whatsoever to embrace the match 11-6 11-6 11-9 11-7. On the adjoining table, Frenaz dropped just one game enroute to 11-4 7-11 11-7 11-5 11-8 victory over Bhavya Jayswal.
Meanwhile, the Men’s team has been announced. Besides semifinalists, the Men’s team will have Ishaan Hingorani (Kutch) as the fifth member of the men’s team. Kausha Bhairapure of Ahmedabad shall join the women’s team.
The selection committee selected the following teams for National to be held at Panchkula (Haryana) from 14th to 23rd February, 2021.
Women: Frenaz Chipia, Filzahfatema Kadri, Aafrein Murad, Bhavya Jayswal, Kausha Bhairapure
Men: Manush Shah, Kaushal Bhatt, Dhairya Parmar, Chitrax Bhatt, Ishaan Hingorani
Results :
Semis
Women: Filzahfatema Kadri (Srt) bt Aafrien Murad (Srt) 11-6 11-6 11-9 11-7; Frenaz Chipia (Srt) bt Bhavya Jayswal (srt) 11-4 7-11 11-7 11-5 11-8
Men: Kaushal Bhatt (bvn) bt Chitrax Bhatt (ahm) 11-8 9-11 6-11 11-3 11-7 11-9; Manush Shah (brd) bt Dhairya Parmar (ahm) 7-11 11-8 11-7 9-11 11-13 11-9 11-8
Finals:
Women: Frenaz Chipia (Srt) bt Filzahfatema Kadri (Srt) 11-9 11-6 9-11 9-11 11-7 11-5
Men: Manush Shah (brd) bt Kaushal Bhatt (Bvn) 11-6 11-8 10-12 11-5 11-6