E-Paper
Pritha, Mrunmayee and Aneeha script easy win for Pune
Seasoned campaigners from the city – Pritha Vartikar, Mrunmayee Raikhelkar and Aneeha D’souza won their respective matches to give Pune 3-0 win over Nagpur.
Pune team started their campaign on a winning note in the sub junior category defeating Nagpur 3-0 in the 49th inter district and 80th Maharashtra State table tennis championship at Shree Shiv Chhatrapati sports complex , boxing hall on Saturday.
Seasoned campaigners from the city – Pritha Vartikar, Mrunmayee Raikhelkar and Aneeha D’souza won their respective matches to give Pune 3-0 win over Nagpur.
The contest began with Pritha Vartikar playing the first match against Ananya Sakhakale.Pune player, Vartikar was on back foot straight away with Sakhakale taking the first set 10-12.“I was not hitting the ball properly in the start so I took some time to get into the groove,” said Vartikar Vartikar brought her act together and clinched next two sets to make it 2-1. Nagpur girl, Sakhakale made it 2-all with winning the fourth set 8-11.In the decider, Vartikar came out with her ace game to give Pune 1-0 lead.
Then, in the second match Mrunmayee Raikhelkar won first two sets 11-8, 11-7 against Jui Pendharkar. Raikhelkar went down in the third set but it turned out to be a small hiccup as she completed 3-1 victory, winning the fourth set 11-7.
In the double contest, Vartikar and D’souza got better of Sakhakale and Pendharkar 11-8, 11-6, 11-4 to complete a 3-0 victory.
Winners’ Quotes:
Pritha Vartikar
My hand was not moving freely at the start of the match. I was nervous when match was locked 2-all but in the end I managed to pull out a victory.
Mrunmayee Raikhelkar
It was an easy game but I made it difficult towards the end with my own hand. I am happy to win the match.
Aneeha D’souza:
Whenever we (Pritha) play together, we make game look easy. In past also we had played together so it was always fun together.
Performance of Pune teams on day 1: (Results, League Stage)
Men
Pune bt Nanded 3-0 (Sanat Bokil bt Kedar Jamkar 11-2, 11-9, 9-11, 11-5; Vaibhav Dahibhate bt Shrikant Dudhare 11-3, 11-5, 9-11, 12-10; Adarsh Gopal bt Umesh Deshmukh 11-8, 11-5, 11-2.)
Solapur bt Pune 3-2 (Vaibhav Dahibhate bt NitinToshniwal 13-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-5; Manish Rawat bt Sanat Bokil 9-11, 11-6, 11-3, 6-11, 11-8; Muzammil Punekar 12-10, 11-6, 8-11, 11-8; Sanat Bokil bt Nitin Toshniwal 11-9, 11-5, 11-5; Manish Rawat bt Vaibhav Dahibhate 9-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-7.)
Boys:
Cadet: Pune bt Palghar 3-0 (Neil Mulye bt Manthan Walinjkar 11-6, 11-4, 11-7; Vedang Joshi bt Mrunmay Patil 5-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-8; Vedang Joshi and Nishant Gadre bt Mrunmay Patil and Nuraz Memon 11-5, 11-6, 11-4.)
Sub junior: Pune bt Raigad 3-0 (Neil Mulye bt Siddharth Gubbala 11-5, 7-11, 11-8, 12-10; Archan Apte bt Rajneesh Chiplunkar 11-5, 11-5, 11-3; Anaiy Kovelamudi and Neil Muley bt Siddharth Gubbala and Tushar Khandekar 11-5, 12-10, 11-4.)
Girls:
Cadet: Pune bt Nagpur 3-0 (Sakshi Pawar bt Jennifer Varghese 12-10, 11-3, 14-12; Radhika Sakpal bt Ikshika Umate 11-6, 11-3, 11-3; Sakshi Pawar and Devani Kulkarni bt Ikshika Umate and Jennifer Varghese 11-5, 11-4, 11-1.
Sub Junior Girls: Pune bt Nagpur 3-0 (Pritha Vartikar bt Ananya Sakhakale 10-12, 11-9, 11-6, 8-11, 11-5; Mrunmayee Raikhelkar bt Jui Pendharkar 11-8, 11-7, 4-11, 11-7; Prith Vartikar Aneeha D’souza bt Ananya Sakhakale and Jui Pendharkar 11-8,11-6,11-4.
Youth: Pune bt Kolhapur 3-0 (Prithika Sengupta bt Isha Swar 11-9, 11-7, 11-9; Eesha Joshi bt Janvi Gole 11-7, 11-5, 14-12; Swapnali Narle bt Nilaya Huddar 7-11,11-7,11-9,11-8.
