Manav downs Harmeet in all-Gujarat men’s final in Himachal Natls
Gandhidham, Sept.18 : India no.2 and Surat lad Manav Thakkar, representing PSPB, went past his citymate and India no. 1 Harmeet Desai (PSPB) 4-2 in the all-Gujarat men’s final of the 1st UTT National Ranking Championships played in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday.
While Harmeet was off the blocks in a hurry taking the opening game, Manav staged a massive comeback winning the next three on the trot. The 31-year-old senior paddler did pocket the fifth game but Manav continued to play aggressively to seal the deal in the sixth game and walked away with the top honour.
Earlier, in the men’s semis, Harmeet swept past his state-mate and RBI player Manush Shah 4-0 to earn his final’s berth.
Two young and upcoming Gujarat paddlers left a mark in this national ranking championships.
In the U-17 girls’ category, Ahmedabad paddler Pratha Pawar upset tournament’s top seed Syndrela Das 3-0 (12-10, 11-7, 11-5) to storm into the quarters where she went down fighting to Maharashtra’s Riana Bhoota 2-3 (9-11, 12-10, 7-11, 11-5, 8-11).
Aayush Tanna came up with some stupendous victories in the U-17 boys’ event where he defeated the fourth seed Divyaj Rajkhowa (Assam) 3-2 (4-11, 11-4, 10-12, 11-8, 11-6) in round of 32 and eventually book his quarterfinal place where he lost to Segal Singh 1-3.
“I played a good final making fewer errors. I have gained a lot of confidence after playing at the Olympics and now my aim is to just get better and better in the upcoming national and international tournaments,” the 24-year-old Manav said.
