Harmeet settles for silver at senior national TT

Ahmedabad: Gujarat’s famed paddler Harmeet Desai faltered at the final hurdle and lost to top seed G Sathiyan 0-4 to settle for silver in the men’s final of the 84th Senior National and Inter State Table Tennis Championships in Jammu on Monday.
Representing PSPB, the 30-year-old Harmeet was off the blocks in a hurry in the first game against his fellow PSPB mate and took 8-4 lead.However, his arch-rival and good friend Sathiyan clawed his way back and took the opening game. From there, the top seed barely gave Harmeet a sniff and finished the match in straight games to win his second senior national title.
Earlier, Surat paddler Manav Thakkar, also representing PSPB, lost his semi-final match to Sathiyan to settle for bronze. Vadodara’s Manush Shah, representing RBI, lost 3-4 to Harmeet in the semi-final to take the second bronze.
The women’s duo of Frenaz Chipia and Filzah Fatema Kadri made their way into the quarterfinal where they lost to RBI’s Diya Chitale and Sreeja Akula 0-3, while the men’s doubles pair of Chitrax Bhatt and Soham Bhattacharya lost to RSPB’s Akash Pal and Ravindra Kotiyan.
Gujarat to begin senior women’s football tourney campaign vs Karnataka
The 27th senior women’s national football championship 2022-23 kicks off in Bengaluru on Wednesday. Gujarat have been clubbed in Group 6 along with Karnataka, Manipur, Bihar and Assam. Gujarat will take on hosts Karnataka in their opener on Wednesday.
In their second match, Gujarat will play Bihar on March 31, while they lock horns with Manipur on April 2. Gujarat will complete their group engagements with a clash against Assam on April 6 .
Gujarat pickleball players reap rich haul in Phuket
Pickleball players from Gujarat reaped a rich haul for India at the recently concluded Asian Pickle Ball Championships in Phuket, Thailand. The players won seven medals — two gold, four silver and a bronze — across various age categories. Athletes from 18 countries had participated in the event.
Thirteen-year-old Purvansh Patel of Gujarat won gold for India in the U-14 boys’ singles category defeating statemate Vivan Patel. Purvansh and Vivan teamed up to win a gold in the U-14 boys’ doubles category, beating Gujarat’s Veer Shah and Aditya Chandrawat of Rajasthan.
Purvansh and Dev Shah paired up in the U-18 boys doubles category, bagging a silver.
In the U-18 boys singles, quick-footed Parshva Shah won silver. Gujarat’s Rakshikha Ravi teamed up with another girl in the women’s doubles 19+ open prize money category and won a bronze.