21 days after tournament debut, Panchpaoli's Tambe is junior national carrom champion

NAGPUR: On January 10,

Gurucharan Tambe

played his first competitive

carrom

tournament.


21 days later, the 18-year-old Tambe walked away with glory when he became the national champion in the 46th Junior National Inter-State Carrom Championship, which concluded at the MLA Hostel on Thursday. The event was organized by the Vidarbha Carrom Association.

A resident of Panchpaoli, Tambe was playing only his third tournament and was representing Vidarbha for the first time. A member of local Om Krida Mandal in Tandapeth, Tambe started his journey as a participant in carrom tournaments during the Vidarbha Ranking meet held at Janta Vachnalay from January 10-13.

In his first tournament, while playing in the open category, Tambe stunned a seasoned campaigner like Irshad Ahmed to emerge victorious. His second championship was the Khasdar Krida Mahotsav, where he lost in the third round. Tambe, who is being trained by Someshwar Parate, sealed his maiden berth to represent Vidarbha in the junior nationals after a satisfactory show in the selection trials.

After Vidarbha finished fourth in the team championships on Wednesday, Tambe took everyone by surprise in the individual events. He remained unbeaten throughout the nationals and in the summit clash he made light work of Tamil Nadu's R Suriya Prashant in straight games 18-13, 16-7, 21-4.

Earlier in the semifinals, Tambe outclassed Kamran Tanveer of Uttar Pradesh with ease 17-4, 18-12, while Surya Prasun defeated Afzal Khan of Maharashtra 21-5, 3-20, 19-5.

The junior girls' title was won by Bihar's Mamta Kumari who got the better of Shaing S from Karnataka 16-2, 21-0.

RESULTS

Junior Boys (Final): Gurucharan Tambe (Vid) bt R Suriya Prashant (TN) 18-13, 16-7, 21-4; Semifinal: Gurucharan Tambe (Vid) bt Kamran Tanveer (UP) 17-4, 18-12; R Surya Prasun (TN) bt Afzal Khan (Mah) 21-5, 3-20, 19-5. Girls (Final): Mamta Kumari (Bihar) bt Shaing S (Karnataka) 16-2, 21-0; Semifinals: Shaing S (Karnatka) bt Ankansha Kadam (MH) 21-4, 21-9; Mamta Kumari (Bihar) bt Sonali Kumari (Bihar) 8-17, 15-11, 15-13. Youth Boys (Final): Harsh Shah (MH) bt Vyom Prakesh Manav (UP) 14-7, 10-8.