Goa's top shuttler Govind Navelkar continued his winning ways to capture a double crown at the All Goa Major Ranking Badminton Tournament organised by Shuttler's Club at Indoor Stadium, Campal, Panaji.
In the Mens singles Finals, Govind smashed his way to a 21-15 , 21-10 victory over Floyd Araujo although Floyd made him sweat and toil in the first set with several long rallies. Later partnering former State Champion Pankaj Naik, the duo went on to win the Mens Doubles event which was undoubtedly one of the best contests of the season. The match was a see saw battle with fortunes fluctuating from one set to the other. The top seeds lost the first set 20-22 but came back strongly to win the next at 21-11. The third set was a neck to neck encounter with neither side willing to give an inch but in the end the reigning champions prevailed over Floyd Araujo and Navneet Nasnodkar to close out the game at 21-19 as the second seeds committed a couple of critical service errors towards the end. Rupchandra Humrasker also eased his way past his opponents to bag a double. He won the Veterans 45 plus event, registering a comfortable 21-13 , 21-17 win over Veteran warhorse Tanaji Sawant while in the Veterans 40 plus singles, he displayed better nerves and stamina to beat Pradosh Silimkhan 21-16 , 21-14 . In the Veteran 45 plus doubles event, the formidable doubles pairing of Tanaji Sawant and P.K. Gupta registered a comprehensive 21-16, 21-14 victory over the surprise package of this season, Rajendra Borkar and Santosh Prabhudesai. Chief Guest Mr. Rajnikant Patel, Territory Manager of Bharat Petroleum distributed the prizes in the presence of Mr. Dinesh Dhekne, Senior Manager(Bharat Petroleum Goa Territory), PBC President Sarfraz Sheikh and GBA Jt. Secretary Shashant Naik. BAI Jt. Secretary Shri Narahar Thakur welcomed. Sandeep Heble compered and proposed the Vote of Thanks.The Tournament was conducted by NIS Coach Vinayak Kamat. Photograph of Finalists available at: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1564243&l=ee7b5d0dd5&id=1187066172 yours sincerely Sandeep Heble Member and Tournament coordinator, Goa Badminton Association 9326129171 * * * UK STOCKS EXHAUSTED! After a community-supported launch at Croydon, Selma Carvalho's *Into the Diaspora Wilderness* is available at Broadways Book Centre, Panjim [Ph +91-9822488564] Price (in Goa only) Rs 295. Ask a friend to pick up a copy. Details of the book http://selmacarvalho.squarespace.com/ * * *
