PANAJI
Aaron Farias is poised for a double crown at the Priority Gaspar Dias Open All Goa Major Ranking Table Tennis Tournament, reaching the Men’s and Boys U19 finals, where he will face Wesley Do Rosario and Chandan Caro respectively.
In Men’s semifinals, Wesley defeated Chandan 4-1, while Aaron outclassed Rishan Shaikh 4-0. In U19 semis, Chandan beat Ruhaan Shaikh 3-1 and Aaron defeated Rishan 3-1. The tournament is being held at Club Tennis de Gaspar Dias, Miramar, in aegis with Goa Table Tennis Association.
The Men’s event also witnessed some sensational performances, with veteran and former State player Venkatesh alias Gaurish Burye causing a major upset by edging out Goa State player Dhruva Kamat 3-2. Rolling back the years, Burye later went down 4-0 to Aaron Farias in the quarterfinals, but pushed him hard, taking two games to nine points and giving the reigning Men’s champion some anxious moments.
Unranked Pushkar Virgincar also stunned former State champion Diljeet Velingkar 3-1 before bowing out to Rishan Shaikh 4-2. In other Men’s quarterfinals, Chandan beat Kaushik Nair 4-0 and Wesley defeated Ruhaan Shaikh 4-0, while in U19, Chandan beat Yuvaan Sanke 3-0, Ruhaan overcame Neel Sanke 3-2, Aaron defeated Dhruva Kamat 3-1 and Rishan beat Yug Prabhu 3-0.
