Goemkarponn desk
Panaji: Mumbai-based debutant Sanika Kambli stormed into the semifinals of the ladies singles event, while also advancing to the next round in the mixed doubles category, during the ongoing Gadre Gaspar Dias Open 2024, which is being held at Clube Tennis de Gaspar Dias and Panjim Gymkhana tennis courts in the state capital.
21-year-old Sanika, who ranks 111 in the list of top women tennis players in the country, Sanika Kambli Beat Anya Tewari (6-2) in the ladies singles event and paired up with Aman Shetty to defeat Dunstan Dias/Marissa (6-0) in the state-ranking tournament’s mixed doubles category.
In other matches in the ladies singles event, Trisha Vinod beat Nidhi Sequeira (6-0), Tanya Shelyazhynska-Caldeira beat Tithee Bhoomkar (6-4), Tvisha Sardesai beat Atika Gaur (6-3) and Ashwini beat Raisa Mergulhao (6-1).
In the mixed doubles category, Mladen Petrovic/Milica Rakovic beat Shankar/Anupama (7-6) (7) and Bulu/Tanya Shelyazhynska-Caldeira beat Sergey Romanov/Julia Shakirova (6-1).
In the men’s singles category, Hafiz Beg beat Tom (6-0) and Maaz Khan beat Vijay Venkateswaran (6-2), to reach the pre-quarter finals. In other matches in the same category, Mano Chhabra beat Joshua Pereira (6-3), Suman beat Ojash (6-2), Aman Shetty beat Pankaj Chadda (6-2), Reagan Rathor beat Vikram (7-5), Prabal Paul beat Utkarsh Singh (6-1), Pankaj Naik beat Kshitij Garg (6-2), Pranab Mehrishi beat Cheriah (6-1), Prathmesh Patil beat Sameer Kakodkar (6-4), Rahul beat Kuldeep Bhagat (6-0), Badal beat Ashwath D. (6-1), Shaurya Verlekar beat Shantanu Gurav (6-4), Sreyas Prasad beat Pankaj Nanoskar (6-0) and Badal beat Sharad (6-1).
In the men’s doubles event, Bharat Paul Singh/Vivek MC beat Prince De Silva/Kuldeep Bhagat (6-2), Ashwin Narsinghani/Shantanu Gurav beat Anurag Agrawal/Jai Gill (6-4), and Bhalchandra Gaitonde/Ganesh Vernekar beat Rehaan Diaz/Sreenath Srinivasan (7-5), to move to the pre-quarter finals.
In other matches in the category, Rahul Singh/Badal beat Puneeth Athreya/Pranav Suvarna (6-2), Pankaj Nanoskar/Darsh Pai beat Vedav Adarsh/Vikas (6-4), Nagesh Naik/Pankaj Chadda beat Pratham Fadte/Punit Fadte (7-6)(3), Bharat Paul Singh/Vivek MC beat Ashwath D/Shaurya Awasthi (7-5), Reagan Rathor/Hafiz Beg beat Rahul Sakpal/S. Raghava (6-2) and Bulu/Mano Chhabra beat Sravan Danda/Prabal Paul (6-2).
Deeva Sahni had an easy victory against Lucy Viegas in the girls under-16 event defeating her (6-0) even as Henin Poojari beat Ritisha (6-4) and Ovi Praveen Umaji beat Ahana Kumar (6-2) and Ovi Praveen Umaji went on to defeat Avni Lotlikar (6-1) thus advancing to the Semifinals in Girls under-16.
In the under-16 boys category, Rihan beat Vidaal De Menezes (6-1), Vedant Naik beat Vihaan Krishnan (6-1), Arhan Gaunkar beat Samik Satardekar (6-0), Devaansh Naik beat Shashwat Mathiyan (6-3), Shaurya Verlekar beat Agnel Shashi (6-4), Kyan Mavany beat Taroun Salgaonkar (6-4), Alec Barreto beat Ayush Shinnur (6-0) and Akshobhya Acharya beat Arion (6-0).
In all, 479 tennis players have registered for the event, out of which 234 players have registered under the veteran’s category, while 245 players have registered for the open category. The annually held Gadre Gaspar Dias Open tournament, which is played on tennis courts at the Clube Tennis de Gaspar Dias and the Panjim Gymkhana, is considered an essential milestone for tennis players keen to improve their state rank in the racquet sport.
