Caetano, Surjit Storm Into Final of masters 55+ Men’s Doubles Category at Bandodkar Panjim Gymkhana Tennis Open 2025

Goa Khabar: Caetano Fernandes and Surjit Lamba marched into the finals of the masters 55+ men’s doubles category at the ongoing Bandodkar Panjim Gymkhana Tennis Open 2025, delivering a dominant 6-0, 6-2 performance against Santosh Fondekar and Rajiv Marathe in the semi-final encounter at the city gymkhana’s courts.

In the masters 45+ men’s singles category, Rohan Lotlikar booked his spot in the quarter-finals with a 6-3 win over Nikunj Gupta. James Darbar edged past Neville Menezes in a tight match 7-6(0), while Pralay Bakshi powered through with a 6-2 win over Kishor Metry. Manoj Pandey got the better of Kedar Tari 6-4, and Vinit Dixit registered a comfortable 6-1 victory against Shubert Colaco in a series of pre-quarter final matches.

In the masters 45+ men’s doubles quarter-finals, Sachin Dukle and Kevin Rebello defeated Allan Fernandes and James Darbar 6-2. Mano Chhabra and Suraj Pombra got past the pair of Kedar Tari and Samir Toroscar 6-4, while Shubert Colaco and Sunil Signapurkar overcame Vinod Chandra and Sudhir Bavkar 6-2. Nikunj Gupta and Navin Cardoz won a closely contested tie against Naveen Daivajna and Neville Menezes, finishing 7-5. Earlier, in the pre-quarterfinals of the same category, Vinod Chandra and Sudhir Bavkar beat Kedar Palekar and Niraj Prabhu 6-1.

In the 55+ men’s singles quarter-finals, Suresh T overcame Akhil Pavithran 6-3 in a clinical display.

Meanwhile, in the competitive men’s singles first round of the state ranking tournament’s open category, Krishna Volvoikar beat Dhaval Fadadu 6-4, Punit Fadte eased past Gary Steele 6-1, and Pankaj Nanoskar got the better of Dunstan Dias 6-3. Nagesh Naik defeated Shripad Adwalpalkar 6-1, Saurish Naik won 6-2 over Vihaan Krishnan, and Raju Kundaikar cruised past Sunil Signapurkar 6-2. Lyndon Pinto edged out Sumedh Natu 7-5, Pankaj Naik overpowered Sreejith K. S. 6-2, and Rehaan Diaz handed Kane Pereira a 6-0 drubbing in the same category. Jai completed the round with a 6-4 win over Ojaswi.

The Bandodkar Panjim Gymkhana Tennis Open 2025 has drawn a record 266 entries, making it the largest All-Goa tennis tournament to date. The state-level ranking event, which began on April 4 at the Panjim Gymkhana, honours Goa’s first Chief Minister, Dayanand Bandodkar. The tournament runs until April 13, promising over a week of competitive tennis.