Up and coming talent Shlok Bajaj witnessed a mixed day while young Yug Parmar revelled under the limelight as upsets marked the second day of the 4th Gujarat State Ranking Table Tennis Tournament 2021 that is being organised by the Surat District Table Tennis Association at the Tapti Valley International School in Olpad, Surat from November 12 to 14.
In the men’s singles, third seed Shlok suffered an 8-11, 5-11, 6-11, 6-11 loss against Vadodara’s Vidit Desai.
However, Shlok, a local talent, stayed in contention in the junior boys’ (U-17) singles as the second seed moved into the quarters with an 11-6, 10-12, 11-6, 11-6 win over Ahmedabad’s Pathik Bhavsar.
Men’s pre-quarters saw one more upset when Ahmedabad’s Abhilash Raval edged out teammate and fourth seed Akshit Savla, who won the title at Anand, 13-11, 14-12, 11-6, 10-12, 11-5.
Cadet boys’ (U-13) pre-quarters witnessed some big upsets with Surat’s Yug Parmar shocking teammate and third seed Pawan Kumar 5-11, 11-7, 11-9, 3-11, 12-10.
Another local talent Manav Mehta defeated seventh seed Samarth Shekhawat of Ahmedabad 11-9, 11-6, 4-11, 11-9 while Vadodara’s Vansh Modi beat eighth seed Vihaan Tiwari of Ahmedabad 11-7, 11-4, 11-9.
In the junior boys’ (U-17) pre-quarters, Ahmedabad’s Harsh Patel defeated fourth seed Shlok Malpani of Surat 12-10, 6-11, 13-11, 5-11, 11-8 while Aravalli’s Janmejay Patel twice came from behind to shock eighth seed Yash Makwana of Bhavnagar 7-11, 12-10, 8-11, 11-5, 11-0.
Meanwhile, in the Cadet girls’ (U-13) pre-quarters, local girl Daniya Godil rose to the occasion as she recorded an 11-6, 11-9, 5-11, 11-5 win over eighth seed Rudri Shukla of Bhavnagar.