Kulkarni keeps Nagpur hopes alive, lone city paddler to enter QF | Nagpur News

Nagpur: Jayesh Kulkarni rallied from a game down to prevail over Mumbai’s Arnav Kshirsagar (TST) 8-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-9 and became the lone Nagpur paddler to enter the quarterfinals of the 1st Maharashtra State ranking table tennis tournament, which began at the Subhedar Hall on Friday. The five-day selection tournament is organised by the Nagpur District Table Tennis Association (NDTTA).The opening day of the tournament saw an early exit for star Nagpur paddler Jennifer Varghese and sixth-seeded Aadi Chitnis in the pre-quarterfinal stage of the women’s and men’s singles, respectively. While Jennifer went down fighting against Mumbai’s top seed Ananya Chande, Aadi lost his pre-quarterfinal clash against Pune’s Ishan Khandekar 11-7, 11-8, 9-11, 11-8.Eighth-seeded Kulkarni, however, kept Nagpur hopes alive when he stormed into the quarterfinals, where he will face the challenge of top seed Jash Modi from the Suburban district. Earlier in the third round, Jayesh outclassed Pune’s Nishad Lele 13-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5.Earlier, the tournament was inaugurated by Dhananjay Welukar and Sharad Suryavanshi. On the occasion, Shekha Tongo, Ashutosh Potnis and others were present.RESULTSWomen (PQF): 1-Ananya Chande (TST) bt Jennifer Varghese (NGP) 11-7, 7-11, 11-5, 11-7; 9-Hardee Patel (TST) bt Urvi Churi (TST) 13-11, 11-6, 11-8; 5-Shruti Amrute (THN) bt Anannya Basak (TST) 11-8, 11-7, 13-11; 4-Senhora Dsouza (MCD) bt Reeth Tennison (TST) 8-11, 11-8, 11-13, 11-0, 11-0; 3-Kavya Bhatt (THN) bt Manasi Chiplunkar (MCD) 11-9, 11-6, 11-8; Ruchita Darvatkar (PUN) bt 6-Shweta Parte Nayak (MCD) 11-9, 9-11, 11-9, 11-2; Swara Karmarkar (NSH) bt 7-Pritha Vartikar (PUN) 11-6, 11-2, 4-11, 11-8; 2-Sampada Bhiwandkar (TST) bt Anoushka Patil (THN) 11-8, 11-6, 11-6.Men (PQF): Jayesh Kulkarni bt Arnav Kshirsagar (TST) 8-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-9; Ishan Khandekar bt 6-Aadi Chitnis 11-7, 11-8, 9-11, 11-8.Round 3: 1-Jash Modi (TST) bt Shounak Sanpurkar (PUN) 14-12, 11-9, 10-12, 12-10; 8-Jayesh Kulkarni (NGP) bt Nishad Lele (PUN) 13-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5; 4-Anish Sontakke (KOL) bt Arya Mogre (BHN) 11-3, 11-1, 11-9; 3-Neil Mulye (MCD) bt Aryann Kale (PUN) 11-4, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7; 6-Aadi Chitnis (NGP) bt Om Tiwari (WRD) 11-3, 11-7, 11-4; 2-Sagar Kasture (TST) bt Vedant Khalade (SLP) 11-3, 11-7, 15-13.