CHENNAI: Pranshu Vijayran’s 3/32 helped Delhi beat Chhattisgarh by 78 runs in the semifinals of the TNCA-TAKE Sports All-India Buchi Babu Invitation cricket tournament played at Salem. In another semifinal played at Dindigul, TNCA XI, riding on MS Washington Sundar’s century (125), drew the match against Madhya Pradesh. TNCA XI were all out for 301. Madhya Pradesh declared at 48 for one in their second essay. MPCA, by virtue of their 235-run lead, entered the final.
Brief scores: Delhi 340 & 80 bt Chhattisgarh 187 & 155 in 56.1 ovs (Rishabh Tiwari 48, Shashank Singh 48, Pranshu Vijayran 3/32, Hrithik Shokeen 2/37, Yogesh Sharma 2/24, Shivank Vashisht 2/21); Madhya Pradesh 536 & 48/1 dec in 23 ovs drew wiith TNCA XI 301 in 113.5 ovs (Washington Sundar 125, A Badrinath 65, M Shahrukh Khan 33, Aman Bhadoria 3/70, Ishan Afridi 2/19, Adheer Pratap Singh 2/71).
Balamurugan, Ananya shine MR Balamurugan of RTTHPC put up a sterling performance as he claimed the men’s and U-17 boys’ title, while Ananya clinched the girls’ Under-17 and Under-15 titles at the 5th Sairam-TNTTA state ranking table tennis tournament held at Sri Sairam Engineering College, West Tambaram.
Results: (All finals): Men: MR Balamurugan (RHPTTC) bt S Tharun (RHPTTC) 11-9, 11-4, 11-7, 11-7; Boys: Under-11: Ashvajith M (TMDTTDA) bt Krish Vinodh (Vin Win) 7-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8; Under-13: Tanmay Raghavan (Chennai Achievers) bt Akshay Bhushan (Chennai Achievers) 9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 7-11, 11-6; Under-15: Nikhil Menon (AKG) bt P Siddarth( Vin Win) 11-9, 3-11, 13-11, 11-4; Under-17: MR Balamurugan (RHPTTC) bt K Umesh (RHPTTC) 11-8, 11-4, 11-9; Under-19: S Tharun (RHPTTC) bt P Raghuraam (Vin win) 11-8, 8-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-5; Women: Nithyashree Mani (Chennai Achievers) bt Kavyasree Baskar (Tower Club) 11-8, 11-8, 9-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-3; Girls: Under- 11: A Bavithra (LCC Neyveli) bt Ambati Pooja (LCC Neyveli) 11-5, 11-5, 11-3; Under-13: K Ananya (Chennai Achievers) bt S Harjani (KTTC) 11-6, 11-5, 14-12; Under-15: M.Ananya (Chennai Achievers) bt BR Nandhini (MVM) 11-5, 11-6, 11-4; Under-17: M Ananya (Chennai Achievers) bt N Sharvani (MC) 11-4, 11-6, 11-3; Under-19: Kavyasree Baskar (Tower Club) bt Shriya Anand (CTTF) 11-6, 11-13, 13-11, 11-6, 11-7; Veteran: Senthil (ICF) bt Sharath Shankar (ITTC) 11-4, 11-4, 11-7; Corporate: Arun Kumar (DBYC) bt Vighneshwaran (TSTTA) 11-6, 11-4, 14-12.
Veteran ITF tournament Presidency Club, Chennai, will be hosting ITF Senior Circuit tournament, PC Open tennis tournament, from September 11 to 16. The PC Open will have players vying for top honours in the 35-plus, 45-plus and 55-plus categories in both singles and doubles format. For the first time in South India, an ITF tournament is being conducted for women in 35-plus category.
All the matches will be played at the tennis courts in the Presidency Club and SDAT Tennis stadium in a best of three tie-break sets format.
The total prize money for the event is `2.10 lakh. The Presidency Club had conducted three similar events in the past successfully. Noted coach Hiten Joshi is the tournament director.
