Table tennis: Jennifer begins campaign with facile win, Ananya, Jui enter pre-quarterfinals

NAGPUR: Ananya Sakalkale and Jui Pendharkar produced a near-perfect performance in their respective third round matches to enter the pre-quarterfinals of the 4th Maharashtra State Open Ranking Table Tennis Tournament on Monday.
Ananya stunned the seed No.16 Bhavika Moolrajani of Thane, Jui too had a relatively easier outing against Kolhapur’s Nilaya Huddar. While both the city girls lost one game each, they maintained the lead in their other three games to finish the match comfortably.
Ananya started aggressively and played some good top spins forehand shots. She maintained the lead to finish the first game in quick time. Bhavika played well but only in patches and conceded far too many unforced errors to lose the second game as well. However, Bhavika looked in great rhythm in the third game, which she clinched with ease. Bhavika continued her good form in the last game as well but Ananya mixed aggression with caution to seal the game.
Jui, however, had a mixed luck as she lost in the second round of the sub-junior category to Mumbai Sub-urban District’s Ananya Chande despite playing well. Earlier, she was in full flow against Nilaya Huddar where she played some breath-taking forehand top spins and backhand blocks.
Jennifer Verghese, top seed in cadet girls, had a tough second round against Nashik’s Ananya Phadke, who is the second seed in the same category. However, she hardly displayed any nerves and rendered a flawless performance. Whether it was top spins, spin push or back blocks, Jennifer was at her best. Most importantly, she was anticipating her opponent's moves extremely well.
Another city youngster Ikshika Umate played extremely well against experienced Sayali Wani. She had her moments and kept the crowd growing but in the end, Sayali proved too good for her.
Results
Junior Girls (Round 3): Ananya Sakalkale beat 16-Bhavika Moolrajani 11-5, 11-9, 3-11, 11-9; Disha Girdhar lost to 5-Vidhi Shah (MSD) beat 3-11, 7-11, 4-11; 14-Jui Pendharkar beat bt Nilaya Huddar (KOL) 9-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-9
Sub-junior Girls (Round 2): Jennifer Verghese beat Ananya Phadke (NSK) 11-3, 11-7, 11-6; Jui Pendharkar lost to Ananya Chande (MSD) 6-11, 13-11, 2-11, 11-7, 7-11; Ikshika Umate lost to Sayali Wani (NSK) 4-11, 7-11, 4-11; Tanisha Arora lost to Juee Deshpande (PNA) 2-11, 8-11, 1-11; Tanaya Patane lost to Ishita Chavan (THN) 9-11, 9-11, 9-11; Bhakti Ghelani lost to Devyani Kulkarni (PNA) 3-11, 2-11, 3-11; Adya Dhobley lost to Aadyashree Jog (THN) Bt 6-11, 8-11, 3-11
Sub-junior Boys (Round 2): Arinjay Kolharkar (NGP) lost to Aaryan Deshpande (THN) 4-11, 8-11, 14-16; Aman Kashyap lost to Vedang Joshi (PNA) 6-11, 9-11, 5-11; Dhruv Sonawane (NGP) beat Manas Kirtane (AKL) 11-7, 11-9, 11-2; Aditya Dixit lost to Tavanth Nerlaje 1-11, 2-11, 2-11