Veteran Ashwin Chandiok Storms into the Semi-finals of TNS PG Open Tennis Tournament

PANAJI:
Ashwin Chandiok stormed into the semi-finals of the ongoing TNS PG Open Tennis tournament defeating Noel Noronha 6-4 in the veterans 45+ singles category in a closely fought encounter at the Panjim Gymkhana.

Chandiok is joined by three other semi-finalists Manoj Pandey, Mano Chhabra and Richard Lockhart, who defeated Dmitry Smirnov (6-2), Prasad Fadte (6-3) and Rajnish Dhall (6-2) respectively in other quarter-final matches in the veterans 45+ men’s singles category. Midway through, Chandiok and Noel broke each other’s serve, causing the match to see-saw for a few games, before the former held his nerve to eventually win the quarter-finals.

In the men’s singles event, Rajaram Kundaikar beat Anurag Agarwal (6-4), while Suraj Sadanah and Anant Kochhar trounced their rivals Sriram (6-1) and Rohan Lotlikar (6-0) respectively.

The boys under-14 years category witnessed a closely fought contest between Alec Barreto, who overcame a resilient Vihaan Krishnan (7-5), while Rafael Shankar defeated Ashton Lobo (6-3). In the two other matches in the same category, Vivaan Agarwal and Darsh Pai made light of their contests against Alec Barreto (6-1) and Vedant Naik (6-2) respectively.

In two other matches in the same category, Arhan Gaonkar swept over a challenge from Timofei Surova (6-1), while 8-year old Ethan Ataide defeated Ivan (6-0).

The men’s doubles category saw Alan and Ojaswi have a relatively easy outing against Mackinlay and Dunstan defeating the latter (6-3), while Krishna and Darsh beat Nehal and Suraj P. (6-3).

Nearly 140 Tennis players across eleven categories are participating in the state ranking Tennis tournament.

The tournament, which is co-organised by the Goa State Tennis Association and the Panjim Gymkhana, is critical for Goan professional Tennis players keen on enhancing their state ranking.