Nashik: Nashik paddlers Shivanand Kundaje and Swati Agharkar clinched gold medals at the Dr Mule Memorial 1st State Masters Table Tennis Championship, recently held in Pune.
In the Men's 70+ Singles category, Shivanand Kundaje defeated Jitu Mawani of TSTT Mumbai 3-1 (11-4, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7) in the semifinal to advance to the title clash. In the final, he overcame Yogesh Desai of TSTTA Mumbai 3-1 (11-4, 11-7, 9-11, 13-11) to claim his first gold medal of the season.
In the Women's 60+ Singles category, Swati Agharkar entered the final after defeating Jayashree Nair of Thane 3-0 (14-12, 11-6, 11-4) in the semifinal. She then edged past Manisha Pradhan of Thane in a thrilling five-game final 3-2 (6-11, 13-11, 11-8, 6-11, 12-10) to secure the gold medal.
The duo was congratulated on their achievement by Nashik District Table Tennis Association President Narendra Chhajed, Secretary Shekhar Bhandari, Vice Presidents Rajesh Bharvirkar and Milind Kachole, Treasurer Abhishek Chhajed, along with Vaibhav Joshi, Alka Kulkarni, Sanjay Vasant, and Suhas Agharkar.
