Pratham bags maiden men’s title at Rajkot rankings
BILKULONLINE
Gandhinagar, June 8: Vadodara’s paddler Pratham Madlani came up with a superlative performance as he defeated Abhilash Raval 4-2 in the men’s finals of the Second Gujarat State Ranking Table Tennis Tournament 2024 organised by the Rajkot District Table Tennis Association (RDTTA) under the aegis of Gujarat State Table Tennis Association at SNK School in Rajkot here on Friday.
The eight-seed Pratham, who trains at SAG-Tapti Valley TT High-Performance Center in Surat, was off the blocks in a hurry taking three games in a row. Just as he thought the match was in his bag, sixth seed Abhilash scripted a minor comeback by winning the next two games. The Vadodara paddler, however, held his nerves and closed the match in the sixth game to take home his maiden men’s title of his career.
Ahmedabad’s 13th seed Monish Dedhia thumped seventh seed Arman Shaikh 3-1 to take the third position.
It was a matter of double delight for Surat paddler Aayush Tanna who claimed the double title in the second state rankings. In the U-19 final, second seed Aayush toppled the top seed Armaan Shaikh of Aravalli 4-2.
The 16-year-old Surti was far from being done in the meet as he went on to bag the under-17 boys title by once again getting the better of another top seed, Janmejay Patel of Aravalli 3-1 to grab his second title.
Results:
Men’s Final: Pratham Madlani (8) (BRD) bt Abhilash Raval (6) AHD) 4-2 (11-6, 11-6 11-8, 8-11, 7-11, 11-7). 3rd/4th position: Monish Dedhia (13) (AHD) bt Armaan Shaikh (7) (ARV) 3-1 (11-13,11-9,11-8,11-9)
Junior Boys (U-19) final: Aayush Tanna (2) (SRT) bt Armaan Shaikh (1) (ARV) 4-2 (12-10,8-11,11-9,11-6,7-11,11-
Junior Boys (U-17) final: Aayush Tanna (2) (SRT) bt Janmejay Patel (1) (ARV) 3-1 (8-11,11-5,11-9,14-12). 3rd/4th position: Abhilaksh Patel (4) (AHD) bt Himansh Dahiya (3) (AHD) 3-2 (11-7,2-11,5-11,11-8,13-11)
