PANJIM: Rachith Aiyappa prevailed over Newton D’Souza to win the men final of Cidade de Goa open tennis tournament in a riveting match which ended 6-3, 6-0, at the tennis court, at Cidade de Goa, recently.
The tournament was organized in association with Goa State Tennis Association (GSTA) and Cidade de Goa and was held over the last two weeks as tennis enthusiasts battled it out as the Goan tennis fraternity cheered them on. This year’s tournament saw over 70 entries from participants across age groups.
The tournament included ten categories – under-12 (girls and boys), under-16 (girls and boys), men singles, ladies singles, men doubles, mix doubles, senior singles and senior doubles.
In the under-12 category boys, Arlindo Gomindes won against Felix Craven, with Rutuja Prabhudessai winning against Wynona Godinho in the under-12 girl’s category.
Similarly, in the under-16 boys, Werner Fernandes went up against Sahil Sen to win the top spot with Saumya Sukhthankar taking down Ibtisam Sheikh in the under-16 girl’s event.
In the women singles final, Simran Khan defeated Ibtisam Shaikh.
The men’s doubles finals saw Kevin Rebelo and Noah D’Silva defeat Ben Craven and Steve Gomes to win the final.
The mixed doubles had Stendhal Pereira and Charmaine Godinho win against Santosh Gorawar and Simran Khan.
In the senior singles category, Noel Noronha beat Manoj Pandey to secure the top spot. While in the seniors doubles match, Kevin Rebelo and Sadguru Desai lifted the trophy.
The winners and runners-up trophies were handed out by the chief guest Neeta Brid, General Manager of Cidade de Goa.
Nathan Chowgule, President of GSTA said, “I congratulate the winners. For a State that has hardly any tennis infrastructure, it is overwhelming to see so much talent on the court. All the players brought in enthusiasm and a great sporting spirit to this tournament. And that’s what sports is all about.”
