Hridan, Daniya, Khwaish, Vincy enter U-11 main draw

Surat January, 23 : A total of four Gujarat paddlers put up a stupendous show and entered the main draw of the U-11 category on the opening day of the Second UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Tournament being played at the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Indoor Stadium in Surat on Monday.

Three Surat paddlers-Hridan Patel (U-11 boys), Daniya Godil and Vincy Tanna (U-11 girls)-rode on home advantage as all three won their qualifying round ties with ease to sail into the main draw.

In the boys section, Hridan defeated Shriram Kiran (KAR) and Pranil Ajgaonkar (Maha B) in Group 6.

In girl’s category, Ahmedabad’s Khwaish Lotia too played well in her Group 15. In Group 11, Daniya defeated Aayat Rahman (ASM) Dasoondi Singh (Raj) to seal her main draw berth.

Vincy also registered victories in both her matches to top the Group 18 and progress to Day 2.

Earlier in the day, Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) secretary general and eight-time national champion Kamlesh Mehta, along with TTFI vice-president Purvesh Jariwala and Regional Manager, State Bank of India, Praveen Kumar declared the tournament open in the ceremony.

Former India pacer Munaf Patel made a surprise visit at the stadium to support the paddlers.

Some qualifying results:
Boys (U-11) Hridan Patel (GUJ) bt Shriram Kiran (KAR) 3-0 (11-9, 11-4, 11-5); Sehajdeep Singh (PUN) bt Sharang Gavali (MAHA B) 3-1 (11-9, 11-9, 4-11, 11-9);
Girls (U-11): Vincy Tanna (GUJ) bt Eesha Pokala (AP) 3-0 (11-8, 11-6, 11-3); Khwaish Lotia (GUJ) bt Inkita Borah (BEN A) 3-0 (11-5, 11-2, 11-5);
Daniya Godil (GUJ) bt Aayat Rahman (ASM) 3-1 (12-10, 11-3, 9-11, 11-7);