Table Tennis: Sagar Kasture Secures Come-From-Behind Win To Reach Semi-Finals

Hot favourite Sagar Kasture, the top seed in the boys under-19,and perhaps is the only player with Japanese penholder grip in Maharashtra, had to fight back after a game down before he asserted himself against Yuvaj Yadav to advance into last four with a 9-11, 11-2, 11-7, 11-9 win in the Khar-Gymkhna- TSTTA 4-Star District ranking table tennis tournament, sponsored by DCB Bank and hosted by Khar Gymkhana on Thursday.

In another tensely fought tie, Parth Magar, who is seeded second in the boys under-15, knocked out fourth seeded Sanskar Basak 11-8, 11-9, 4-11, 9-11, 11-9 to join Sagar in the under-19 semifinals. In the girls singles, Sana Desouza had a mixed day. She defeated Arpita Borhade 8-11, 11-6, 11-8, 13-11 in the under-17 section, but was beaten by fourth seeded Sampada Bhiwandkar  in the girls under-19 singles, who triumphed 6-11, 11-7, 11-2, 11-6.

Sharang Bhagdikar and  Sudhir Kidav, both from Borivali’s  MCF Sports Club, were pretty impressive while recording  three wins each in their respective men’s singles and Veteran men’s +40 singles to advance to their respective  main Sharang, in fact, caused ripples as he lowered the colours of seasoned Gaurav Parte 3-1 and followed by beating Santosh Jain 3-0. However, Sharang alongwith Gaurav Pate, qualified for the men’s singles main draw.

Sudhir Kidav causes massive upset:

In  another interesting tie , Sudhir Kidav, a last minute replacement in place of Mangesh Satpal, caused an upset by beating old war horse Kapil Kumar to storm into the main draw of veteran’s singles.  Others to join them in the main draw were Ulhas Shrike, Gurucharan Singh,  Rajesh Singh, Sarosh Shroff and Kinzal Vadhera.

Other results:
Boys U-19 singles: (Quaterfinals): (1)- Sagar Kasture bt Yuvraj Yadav 9-11, 11-2, 11-7, 11-9; Ayush Sonawane bt Athik Shah  11-3, 11-8, 11-8; Parth Magar bt  Sanskar Basak 11-8, 11-9, 4-11, 9-11, 11-9; Vineet Deepak bt Ansh  Karnavar 11-5, 11-7, 11-8.
Girls U-17 singles (Quarterfinals): Urvi Churi bt Ishika Punjabi 11-1, 11-5, 11-4; Hardee Patel bt Viashnavi 11-7, 11-6, 11-3; Sana Desouza bt Arpita Borhade 8-11, 11-6, 11-8, 13-11; Bhoomi Pitale bt Anshita Tamhankar 8-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-6.
Under-19: (Quarterfinals):Shravani Loke bt  Urvi  Churi  6-11, 13-11,11-6, 9-11, 11-6;  Sampada Bhiwandkar bt Sana Desouza 6-11, 11-7, 11-2, 11-6; Hardee Patel bt Bhoomi Pitale 11-3, 7-11, 11-3, 11-6;