Malav wins season’s fourth title in Surat

Ahmedabad: City paddler Malav Panchal thrashed Abhilaksh Patel in straight games to win the U-15 boys’ title at the 7th Gujarat State Ranking Table Tennis Tournament 2023 in Surat. The event was organized by the Table Tennis Association of Surat District under the aegis of Gujarat State Table Tennis Association. Malav won 11-5, 11-8, 11-8. This was 13-year-old Malav’s fourth title of the season. Top seed in boys bows out in first qualifying round: Top seed in the boys’ qualifying — Yaswanth Gundlapalle — was the biggest casualty on the opening day on Saturday of the first round of the qualifying at the J30 Ahmedabad ITF World Tennis Tour being held here. The tournament is being played on the hard courts of the Ahmedabad City Tennis Foundation (ACTF). Yashwant lost 2-6, 3-6 to V Sharma.Meanwhile, twelve boys and girls entered the second and final round of qualifying, which will take place on Sunday. Along with Sharma, Anurag Kallambella, Dev Patel, Aahil Ayaz, Hem Shah, Rohith Gobinath, A Bishnoi, M Mekala, Veer Madam, Dhruv Sachdeva, Shashank Karnati and Sarth Bansode entered the boys’ second round of qualifying.Top seed Devashree Mahadeshwar, Krisha Dalal, Rithika Kakarlamudi, Padma Manikonda, Tanishca Bhatnagar, Simran Bundela, Nirali Padaniya, Yashika Shokeen, Ananya Dhankhar, Amishi Shukla, Hemakshi Modi and A Mallick marched into the girls’ second round of qualifying.