Mumbai : Unseeded Avril Saldanha impressed in defeat as she went down fighting to fourth seed Tanvita Thakur in the youth girls’ quarter-finals, in the Matunga Gymkhana 4-Star Mumbai District Ranking Table Tennis Tournament on Friday.
Thakur faced a stiff challenge while leading 2-1 as Saldanha won the second and fourth games in tight finishes to stretch the encounter into six exciting games. After drawing level at 2-all, Saldanha found Thakur’s punishing forehand smashes on both flanks hard to handle that also led to unforced errors.
Third seed Krisha Agarwal enjoyed a rewarding day following impressive wins that led her to join Thakur in the semi-finals. Agarwal kicked off the day with a thrilling 4-3 pre-quarter-final win over a gallant Vidhi Shah in the most absorbing contest of the day, before halting Radhika Agarwal in straight games in the quarter-finals.
Top seed Divya Deshpande and second seed Senhora D’Souza eased into the women’s semi-finals to remain on course for a title clash.
Results: Women (Quarter-finals): Divya Deshpande bt Dyuti Patki 11-3, 14-12, 11-7, 11-0; Priti Mokashe Bhosle bt Radhika Agarwal 11-6, 11-6, 11-4, 11-5; Senhora D’Souza bt Mrunmayee Mhatre 7-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-7, 11-6.
Youth girls (Quarter-finals): Aditi Sinha bt Riya Suryavanshi 11-6, 11-6, 11-4, 11-6; Tanvita Thakur bt Avril Saldanha 11-6, 9-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 11-4; Krisha Agarwal bt Radhika Agarwal 11-8, 11-2, 13-11, 11-7; Dyuti Patki bt Vidhi Dhoot 3-11, 11-4, 11-7, 15-13, 11-6.
