Frenaz opts out, Women’s crown up for grabs
Anand, September 3 : With defending state champion and top seed Frenaz Chipia opting out Women’s crown is up for the grabs at the 4th Gujarat State Ranking Table Tennis Tournament which gets underway at the H. M. Patel Badminton Hall, Nr. Shashtri Maidan, Vallabh Vidyanagar, Anand on Wednesday.
Ishaan Hingorani of Kachchh after his stupendous show in previous legs of the State Ranking Tournaments will once again start favourite in the Men’s section.
Surat-based Frenaz has 150 points from three outings and has obliged the criteria of playing at least three State Ranking tournaments. Also having secured a berth in state team, Frenaz has decided to focus on upcoming Zonal competition in November leaving the title race wide open. Frenaz had played three different finalists this season starting with Prarthna Parmar (in Surat), Namna Jayswal (in Jamnagar) and Kausha Bhairapure (in Gandhidham). Naturally, all the three finalists will fancy their chances.
Leading the race will be Kausha Bhairapure of Ahmedabad. As compared to Surat and Jamnagar, Frenaz was stretched in Gandhidham. Kausha gave her a tough fight and produced one of the finest Women’s final in the recent times.
Breathing down on Kausha’s neck are two Bhavnagar-based paddlers Namna and Prarthna. The duo has shown their talent but temperament and composure shall hold key in their progress.
Itching to get back to form will be Divya Gohil. The Bhavnagar-based paddler is sharing eighth position in this year’s points tally and would be eager to hog the limelight in absence of Frenaz.
The men’s section is equally grueling and competitive. Men’s top seed Ishaan Hingorani will have to be more consistent and ruthless in his approach if he aspires to lead Gujarat team in the upcoming national championships. With Inter-District and State Championships, where points are double, to go after Anand leg, the competition is stiff at the top. His closest rivals Bhavnagar’s Jignesh Jayswal at 100 is 40 behind Ishaan. Kaushal Bhatt who surprised everyone with Men’s title in Jamnagar is third at 80 points.