Veteran Ashwin Chandiok wins double BPS All-Goa State Ranking Tennis Tournament

Goa Khabar: Veteran Tennis star Ashwin Chandiok did a double at the ongoing BPS All-Goa State Ranking Tennis Tournament 2023, winning the singles and doubles finals in the 45+ category of the state ranking tournament held in Margao.

Chandiok defeated Dmitry Smirnov (6-4, 6-4) in the singles final and also paired up with Bulu to breeze through the doubles final in the same category defeating Jude Cardozo and Brian Fernandes (6-0, 6-0) in a one-sided match.

In the other finals events in the 55+ veterans category, Manoj Pandey defeated Sameer Kakodkar to win the title. Kakodkar held on to his own in the first set, before losing 4-6, before Pandey swept the next set 6-0 to win the 55+ men’s singles final.

In the 55+ men’s doubles final, the duo of Sameer Kakodkar and Sandeep Verlekar put in a valiant comeback to defeat Manoj Pandey and Michael Viegas to wrench the title.

Sameer and Sandeep lost the first set 4-6, before winning the second set 7-5. The third set stretched into an exciting super tie-break, which they eventually won 10-8.

The tournament’s open category matches also kicked off on Monday with Dmitry Smirnov defeating Sanjay Varak (6-1), while Arnam Ghosh beat Suraj Patlekar (6-2).

In the early round matches in boys under-14 category, both Vivaan Agarwal and Avanish Pillankar scored easy wins over their rivals Adianta Devaraya (6-0) and Kaivalya Devaraya (6-0) respectively.

In all, 126 Tennis players have registered to participate in the BPS All-Goa State Ranking Tennis Tournament 2023 which has been organised jointly by the prestigious BPS Sports Club in Margao and the Goa State Tennis Association (GSTA). The total prize money for winners of the various categories in the tournament is Rs. 70,000.