Jiya, Dania start on winning notes at 1st Gujarat State Ranking Table Tennis Tournament 2021

MODASA, Sept 17: Jiya Mainani of Ahmedabad and Dania Godil of Surat kept the crowd enthralling as the Hopes (U-11) category marked their debut with some exciting matches on the opening day of Phase I of 1st Gujarat State Ranking Table Tennis Tournament 2021, that is being supported by ML Gandhi Higher Education Society and Rotary Club, Aravalli and organized by Aravalli District Table Tennis Association under the aegis of Gujarat State Table Tennis Association.
At DLSS Table Tennis Hall in JB Shah English Medium School, Jiya edged out Surat’s Khushi Solanki 11-8, 11-7, 7-11, 11-7 in the pre-quarters of the Hopes (U-11) Girls’ event.
Meanwhile, Dania showed tremendous resilience as the youngster came from two games down to record a 9-11, 9-11, 11-2, 11-2, 11-8 win over Ahmedabad’s Fiza Pawar.
Hopes (U-11) Boys’ pre-quarters turned out to be one-sided affairs as Ahmedabad’s Dwij Hirani breezed past Mahammad Chauhan of Anand for an 11-0, 11-2, 11-2 win. Surat’s Hridan Patel too had a comfortable 11-9, 11-3, 11-3 win over Ahmedabad’s Anant Agrawal.
However, Surat’s Akhil Achha had a battle in hand in his 11-7, 10-12, 12-10, 11-3 win over Kachchh Yug Singh.
Meanwhile in the Cadet Boys’ (U-13) singles qualifying rounds, Baroda’s Abhilaksh Patel edged out Ahmedabad’s Devam Soni 11-5, 11-2, 11-6 while Hridan beat Devam 11-4, 13-11, 12-10. Abhilaksh moved into the main round with an 11-6, 11-6, 11-9 win over Hridan from Group 1.
From Group 2, Ahmedabad’s Vihaan Tiwari moved into the main round with contrasting wins over Kachchh’s Vansh Sundrani (11-8, 11-6, 13-11) and Surat’s Arinjay Kabra (11-8, 11-3, 6-11, 3-11, 11-5). In between, Arinjay beat Vansh 13-11, 11-9, 8-11, 9-11, 14-12.
From Group 4, Surat’s Naitik Jain moved into the next main round with wins over Baroda’s Ved Panchal (12-10, 11-7, 11-2) and Anant (11-6, 11-7, 11-5). In between, Ved beat Anant 11-1, 11-9, 11-8.
In Group 5, Ahmedabad’s Taksh Shah reached the main round after wins over Yash (6-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-3) and Surat’s Yatharth Kedia (11-3, 11-5, 4-11, 11-8). Meanwhile, in the first match of the group, Yatharth defeated Yash 11-7, 11-4, 9-11, 11-7.
Taksh Kothari of Surat saved his best for the last to reach the main round from Group 6. After an 11-4, 11-1, 11-1 win over Yug, Taksh battled it hard to beat Bhavnagar’s Param Parmar 9-11, 11-4, 11-4, 9-11, 11-9 to seal the deal. Param had earlier recorded an 11-3, 11-4, 11-2 win over Yug.
Surat’s Manav Mehta showed resilience to cross the hurdle from Group 7. Manav beat Hitharth Joshi of Bhavnagar 11-2, 11-5, 10-12, 11-6 before overcoming Ahmedabad’s Parv Vyas 11-8, 6-11, 11-5, 9-11, 11-7 to seal the knockout berth. In between, Hitharth beat Parv 19-17, 11-9, 11-7.
Kavish Shah of Ahmedabad made it to the main round from a closely contested Group 8. Kavish beat Aravalli’s Mohammad Faiz Makek 6-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-9 before registering a thrilling 7-11, 8-11, 12-10, 11-7, 11-7 coming from behind win over Naitik Choradiya of Surat. Earlier, Naitik recorded a 12-10, 10-12, 11-7, 12-14, 11-6 win over Faiz.
Jenil Patel topped Group 9 with wins over Kachchh’s Shubh Manek (11-8, 11-4, 11-2) and Akhil (11-6, 11-5, 10-12, 11-6). In between, Shubh beat Akhil 9-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-9, 11-3.