Chitrax, Krittwika win top honours

Gandhidham, May 5: Fourth seed Chitrax Bhatt of Ahmedabad halted 14th seed Pratham Madlani’s giant-killing spree by handing him a 4-0 defeat in the men’s final of the Microsign 1st Gujarat State Ranking Table Tennis Tournament which is ongoing from May 2 to 5 at the SAG Sports Complex, Sidsar in Bhavnagar.

The season-opener tournament is organised by Bhavnagar District Table Tennis Association under the aegis of Gujarat State Table Tennis Association (GSTTA) and the title is sponsored by Microsign Products and the tournament is supported by Sports Authority of Gujarat (SAG).

Chitrax’s experience of playing in the finals helped him stop a rampaging Pratham from playing his aggressive game as the fourth seed cruised through the first three games. Pratham, who trains at SAG-Tapti Valley TT High-Performance Center in Surat, seemed to have woken up from his slumber and troubled Chitrax in the fourth game but the Amdavadi lad held his nerves better to close the game at 19-17 and pocket the first men’s title of the season.

Second seed Soham Bhattacharya of Ahmedabad registered a hard-fought 3-2 victory over the top seed and his city mate Akshit Salva to finish third.

Former India paddler and unseeded in this tourney, Krittwika Sinha Roy of Surat, hardly broke a sweat in her 4-2 win over her city mate and 10th seed Filzah Kadri to grab the women’s title.

Third seed Oishiki Joardar of Ahmedabad went past eighth seed Arnee Parmar of Surat 3-0 to take the third position.

Results:

Men’s final: Chitrax Bhatt (AHD) (4) bt Pratham Madlani (BRD) (14) 11-6, 11-9, 11-3, 19-17.

3rd/4th position: Soham Bhattacharya (AHD) (2) bt Akshit Salva (AHD) (1) 8-11, 11-4, 9-11, 14-12, 11-6.

Women’s final: Krittwika Sinha Roy (SRT) bt Filzah Kadri (SRT) (10) 11-6, 9-11, 13-11, 11-6, 5-11, 11-8.

3rd/4th position: Oishiki Joardar (AHD) (3) bt Arnee Parmar (SRT) (8) 11-6, 15-13, 12-10.