On the opening day of Phase-1 of 1st Gujarat State Ranking Table Tennis Tournament 2021, Jiya Mainani of Ahmedabad and Dania Godil of Surat kept the crowd enthralling as the Hopes (U-11) category marked their debut with some exciting matches. This tournament is organised by the Aravalli District Table Tennis Association. At DLSS table tennis hall at JB Shah English Medium School, Jiya edged out Surat’s Khushi Solanki 11-8, 11-7, 7-11, 11-7 in the pre-quarters of the Hopes (U-11) girls’ event.
Meanwhile, Dania showed resilience as the youngster recorded a 9-11, 9-11, 11-2, 11-2, 11-8 win over Ahmedabad’s Fiza Pawar. Hope (U-11) boys’ pre-quarters turned out to be one-sided affairs as Ahmedabad’s Dwij Hirani breezed past Mahammad Chauhan of Anand for an 11-0, 11-2, 11-2 win. Surat’s Hridan Patel too had a comfortable 11-9, 11-3, 11-3 win over Ahmedabad’s Anant Agrawal. However, Surat’s Akhil Achha had a battle in hand in his 11-7, 10-12, 12-10, 11-3 win over Kachchh Yug Singh.