TEAM HERALD
sports@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: Varun Gangodkar piped Vaidik Shrivastava 8-11, 11-3, 13-11, 11-3 to set up a final clash with Wesley Do Rosario (Fomento Resources) who beat Mandar Joshi 11-4, 11-7, 11-4 in the cadet boys’ section of Adv Madhav Rao Memorial State TT organized by Goa Table Tennis Association (GTTA) at Indoor Stadium, Campal, here.
In the cadet boys quarter-finals, Wesley Do Rosario got the better of Naguesh Verenkar 11-4, 11-6, 11-8, Atharva Nadkarni lost to Mandar Joshi 7-11, 2-11, 6-11 while Varun Gangodkar beat Shaswat Mapxenkar 11-9, 12-10, 11-7 and Karl Gomindes lost to Vaidik Shrivastava 6-11, 4-11, 2-11. There was also a major upset when unseeded Naguesh Verenkar beat No 8 Neelay Kamat in the pre-quarterfinals in a keenly contested match, with a set-score of 3-2.
In the mini-cadet boy’s category semi-finals, Vaidik Shrivastava overcame Shantiesh Mapxenkar 11-2, 11-2, 11-1 to enter the finals. He will meet Jayden Monteiro who got the better of Neelay Kamat 11-6, 11-8, 11-8 in the final.
Quarter-finals mini-cadet boys: Akshay Naik beat Govind Bharne 10-12, 11-5, 11-9, 11-9 while Aiden Furtado got the better of Stephen D’Costa 12-10, 13-11, 11-9. Nageush Verenkar beat Jayz Gomes 11-7, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7 and Nihal Virginkar beat Anshuman Agarwal 9-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-3.
In the other quarter-finals, Akshay Naik went down to Vaidik Shrivastava 1-11, 2-11, 1-11 while Nihal Virginkar lost to Shantish Mapxenkar 4-11, 2-11, 5-11. Jayden Monteiro beat Aiden Furtado 8-11, 11-4, 11-8, 14-12 and Neelay Kamat stretched Naguesh Verenkar to eventually win 5-11, 11-3, 12-10, 11-3, 11-8.
