Bhat claims sub-junior girls single crown

Pune, May 5 (UNI) Unseeded Swanand Limaye and top seed Sruja Bhat were the toast of the day claiming the singles title in their respective sub-junior boys and girls singles event today in the Le Meridien Players Cup district ranking table tennis championship being jointly hosted by the PDTTA and the Deccan Gymkhana Club here.

It was indeed remarkable when giant killer Limaye rallied from the brink of defeat to shock third seed Nitish Sapre in a thriller 7-11,5-11,13-11,13-11,7-11,11-9,11-8. Earlier in the semi-finals Limaye had the prized scalp of top seed Aniket Gulawani in his bag to set up the title clash with Sapre. Limaye, however, bagged his first title of the season.

Top seed Saruja Bhat overcame a scare before downing resolute unseeded Devika Bhide in a pulsating tussle 11-7,12-10,11-6,,7-11,4-11,12-10 to lift the sub-junior girls under 14 singles title today in the Le Meridien Players Cup district ranking table tennis championship.

The number one seed Sayali Deshpande set a title clash against unseeded Sruja Bhat in the junior girls under-17 event. Sayali proved rather too good for the fourth seeded Prachi Ghumatkar winning the first semi-final in straight games 11-7,11-5,11-6,,11-9 while Bhat the winner of the sub-junior girls single title continued her excellent form getting the better off Sai Bakre 11-6,11-8,11-2,8-11,17-15 in other semifinals.

Bhat versus Bhide final went the full distance and gave a sparse audience much to shout about. Bhat started with a flourish, wrapping up the first three games. Though Bhide warmed up quite late, bounced back to clinch the next two games 11-7,11-4. But Bhat made the issue safe by bagging the sixth game 12-10. Bhat thus lined herself for a double have enetred the finals of junior girls singles event as well.

Following are the results : Sub-junior boys singles (under-14) finals: Swanand Limaye beat Nitish Sapre 7-11,5-11,13-11,13-11,,7-11,11-9,11-8.

Sub- Junior girls singles (under-14) finals: Sruja Bhat beat Devika Bhide 11-7,12-10,11-6,,7-11,4-11,12-10.

Junior girls (under-17) semi-finals: Sayali Deshpande beat Prachi Ghumatkar 11-7,11-5,11-6,11-9.

Sruja Bhat beat Sail Bakre 11-6,11-8,11-2,8-11,17-15.

Youth boys singles (under-20) pre-quarters: Kushal Kulrani beat Adwait Bramhe 11-9,11-8,11-8. Raunak Apte beat Pranav Phadnavis 11-1,11-2,11-6. Arjun Gokhale beat Pushkaraj Shrotriya 14-12,11-7,11-8, Amish Karamchandani beat Amol Soman 11-7,11-9,11-8. Martand Biniwale beat Rushikesh Kulkarni 11-7,12-10,11-7Siddharth Mehta beat Nitish Sapre 11-9,11-9,8-11,10-12, 11-6.

Junior boys singles (under-17) pre-quarters: Raunak Apte beat Kedar Kulkarni 11-2,11-1,11-7. Sanmay Paranjape beat Nitish Purandare 14-12,11-5,11-5. Pushkaraj Shrotriya beat Richard Serron 11-8,11-5,6-11,11-8 Amisj Karamchandani beat Siddharth Bhide 12-14,11-8,11-9,9-11,11-1. Amol Soman beat Arnav Phadnis 11-2,11-5,11-5, Nitish Sapre beat Niraj Sane 11-3,11-7,7-11,11-6. Pranav Renavikar beat Kunal Joshi 11-8,11-7,11-9.

Veteran singles above 49 years seond round: Roni Todiwala beat Suhas Datar 11-6,11-8,11-8. Pradip Parale beat Sanjay Kulkarni 11-7,10-12,11-6,3-11,11-5. Parag Juvekar beat Hemant Deshpande 11-5,11-0,11-5.Balasaheb Shelar beat Manisha Bodas 11-3,11-3,11-7.Ajay Kotawale beat Mahesh Godbole 11-7,11-5,11-5.

UNI