Mumbai : Unseeded Raegan Albuquerque upset fourth seed Hardik Panchal to enter the youth boys quarter-finals, in the 4 Star Chembur Gymkhana Mumbai Suburban District Ranking Table Tennis Tournament, on Thursday.
Albuquerque kicked off a rewarding day of back-to-back wins when he rallied from 0-2 and 2-3 deficits to snatch a thrilling 9-11, 10-12, 11-5, 11-9, 9-11, 11-3, 11-6 win over Panchal. Under pressure after the early setback, Albuquerque attacked Panchal on both flanks and won crucial winners as he changed his fortunes in the sixth game to force the decider. Panchal had no answer to Albuquerque’s rasping drives as he lost his way in the decider of the best-of-seven games contest.
Later, Albuquerque advanced to the men’s pre-quarter-finals following another hard-fought 13-15, 11-7, 11-9, 11-13, 11-4 win over formidable Jignesh Rahatwal, in another tight encounter that went down to the wire.
Tanmay Rane was the other significant winner as he lived dangerously before overcoming Shivam Das 11-6, 12-10, 5-11, 11-9, 5-11, 11-9 to enter the youth boys quarter-finals, and later advanced to the men’s pre-quarter-finals with a straight games win. Fancied Parthav Kelkar also advanced in both categories following close wins.
