Excelsior Sports Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Apr 20: J&K bagged five medals in different categories of the 20th J&K Bank National Veterans TT Championship, being organised by J&K Table Tennis Association in collaboration with Table Tennis Federation of India and Indian Veteran Table Tennis Association, which concluded at Sher-e-Kashmir indoor sports complex, here today.
In women singles above 40, Mantu Murmu of West Bengal claimed first position, while Sonal K Joshi of Gujarat stood second. The third rank was shared by Anangha Joshi and Suhasini Bakre, both from Maharashtra.
In men singles above 40, Vikas Mahajan of Punjab and Mukul Boro of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) emerged winner and runner-up respectively, while the second runner-up position was shared by Atma Ram of Maharashtra and Gagan Choudhary of Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
In women singles above 50, Rajeshwari Mehetra of Maharashtra and Mandakani Deshpande of Karnataka secured first and second positions respectively, while Sunanada Roa and Priti K Bannerjee of West Bengal shared third rank.
In men singles above 50, Pankaj Sharma of Punjab, Sanjay Dev of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) claimed first and second positions respectively, while Prakash Kelkar and Rajesh Mudan, both from Maharashtra shared third position.
In women singles above 60, Lakshmi Krishnan of Andhra Pradesh claimed first position, while Shobha Naidu of Maharashtra secured second position. The third rank was shared by Anuja Ghadi and Swati Kadam, both from Maharashtra.
In men singles above 60, D Suren of Andhra Pradesh and Ashok Chakravasta of West Bengal claimed first and second positions respectively, while the third rank was shared by Sadhan Dutta of West Bengal and Deepak Dudhane of Maharashtra.
In men singles above 65, GVSV Rao of Andhra Pradesh and Santosh Koshik of Madhya Pradesh claimed first and second positions respectively, while Sayed Bhai of Gujarat and IG Purohit of Madhya Pradesh shared third rank.
In women singles above 70, Nirmala Abhiyankar of Andhra Pradesh secured first position, while Shanta T of Karnataka claimed second position. The third rank was shared by Bhaiji Ben and Kokila Ben, both from Gujarat.
In men singles above 70, Anand Kumar of Andhra Pradesh and Anand Prakash of Delhi secured first and second positions respectiuvely, while the third rank was shared by TS Anand Rao of Andhra Pradesh and DD Rathore of Gujarat.
In men singles above 75, V Raja Gopal of Tamil Nadu and HL Khatri of Gujarat secured first and second positions respectively, while the third rank was shared by RP Chaterjee and AN Bhargava.
In women doubles above 40, Anega Joshi and Suhasni Bakre from Maharashtra emerged winner, while Sonal Joshi and Aarbita Gohil from Gujarat claimed runner-up position. The third rank was shared by Manmeet Kaur (J&K) and Aparna, Mantu Marma and Karabi Maitu (West Bengal).
In men doubles above 40, Nitin Toshiniwal and Manish Rawat from Maharashtra claimed first position, while Ajay Thukral and Vivek Mahajan from Punjab secured second position. The third position was shared by Hira Goswami and Umesh Goswani from Haryana, Sudip Moitra and Jayant Mondal from West Bengal.
In women doubles above 50, Pritikana Banerjee and Tusharkana Dutta from West Bengal emerged winner, while R Mehetre and Vandana Bhale from Maharashtra secured runner-up rank. The second runner-up position was shared by Preeti Pardesi and Ujwalai from Maharashtra, Renuka (J&K) and Vibha Shinde (Maharashtra).
In men doubles above 50, KK Rai and PG Kelkar from Maharashtra claimed first position, while the second rank was secured by Pankaj Sharma (Punjab) and Ajay Sharma (J&K). The third rank was shared by Jitu Mavani and Kavish Chemburkar from Air India, P Marked and Prashant M from Maharashtra.
In women doubles above 60, Manisha Bodas and Anuja Ghadi from Maharashtra claimed first position, while the runner-up trophy was secured by PJ Lama and Pramila from SKM. The third rank was shared by Latika and Shanta T from Karnataka, Swati Kadam and Shobia Naidu from Maharashtra.
In men doubles above 60, Deepak Dudhane and Ulhas K from Maharashtra emerged winner, while Sadhan Dutta and Ashok Chakravastra from West Bengal secured runner-up position. The second runner up position was shared by S Ramesh and D Suren from Andhra Pradesh, Sitaram Gamre and Girish Sawant from Maharashtra.
In men doubles above 65, IG Purohit and Santosh Kaushik from Madhya Pradesh emerged winner, while GVSV Rao and SP Jagan Nath from Andhra Pradesh secured runner-up position. The third rank was shared by VSS Sai and K Raghuraman from Tamil Nadu, AS Sheikh and P Thanekar from Maharashtra.
In men doubles above 70, Anand Rao and R Anand Kumar from Andhra Pradesh emerged winner, while Anand Prakash and PC Baby from Delhi secured second position. The third rank was shared by KV Krishnamurty and NS Singh from Karnataka, S Satyanarayan and BV Krishnamurty from Karnataka.
In mixed doubles above 40, Vikas Mahajan and Manmeet Kaur of Punjab emerged winner, while Vivek Arora and Mantu Murmu secured second position. The third rank was shared by Nitin T and Anga Joshi from Maharashtra, Satish Patel and Sonal Joshi from Gujarat.
In mixed doubles above 50, KS Kedari and Nagaratna from Karnataka, JS Mohite and Ujwal M from Maharashtra, Sanjay Dey and Tushar Kama from West Bengal emerged winners.
In mixed doubles above 60, AS Sheikh and P Ghadi from Maharashtra emerged winner, while TM Kammu and Swati Kadam from Maharashtra secured second position. The third rank was shared by Udai Shanker and Lethica from Karnataka, Udai S Rao and Shanta from Karnataka.
In mixed doubles above 65, GVSV Rao (Andhra Pradesh) and Prema (Tamil Nadu) emerged winner, while AM Krishnaswamy (Karnataka) and Laxami Krishna (Andhra Pradesh) secured second position. The third rank was shared by Shyamal Ganguly (Madhya Pradesh) and Nirmala Abhiankar (Andhra Pradesh), AN Bhargava and Prem Kumari from Uttar Pradesh.
On the valedictory function, Minister for Medical Education, and Youth Services and Sports, Taj Mohi-ud-din was the chief guest, who awarded the winners in presence of Dhanraj Choudhary, Secretary General, Table Tennis Federation of India, Mr Bodus, Vice President, Table Tennis Federation of India, Titus C Philipose, Secretary General, Indian Veterans Table Tennis Association and Vivek Kohli, MD, Stag International. Besides Satish Gupta, Sanjay Gupta, Ranjan Sharma, Sheetal Gandotra, Renuka Aima and Anita Sadhotra, officials from J&K Table Tennis Association and State Sports Council were also present.
While speaking, Minister emphasized upon the participating players to act as ambassadors of peace and communicate the message of peaceful environment prevailing in the State prerequisite for the organizing of national and international sports events.
Taj said that youth of our State have vast potential for sports activities and they have proved their mettle at national and international sports events. He said there is need to explore their talent and provide platform for the display of their capability besides upgrading the sports infrastructure on modern trends.
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