Mumbai : Former state champion Sanjay Mande shocked second seed Sandeep Deorukhkar in the fourth round and later stormed into the men’s quarter-finals, in the Bombay YMCA Mumbai District Ranking Carrom Tournament.
Tata Sports Club’s Mande recorded back-to-back wins when he first beat former Asian, national and state champion Deorukhkar of ONGC 25-6, 25-6 in the most significant upset of the competition so far and later overcame Faizan Ansari 25-11, 25-20 in a tight contest to advance to the quarter-finals.
World No. 2 Mohammad Gufram of Indian Oil, top seed Pankaj Pawar and Yogesh Dhongade of Jain Irrigation and Dilip Sosa were among the others to enter the last eight. Gufram and Sosa delighted with white slams, while Faizan Ansari and Sanjay Nagaonkar hit black slams.
Former national champion and nine-time state champion Anupama Kedar of Bank of India and Preeti Khedekar of Navy were among the favourites to enter the women’s quarter-finals.
