Friday 26 / April / 2024
MUSCAT: Teenagers Viren Kundnani and Adhyatm Sharma stole the show at the grand finals of the ISC Open Table Tennis Tournament sponsored by Al Tasnim Enterprises LLC.
Having made it to the summit clash for the men’s doubles crown, the talented duo of Viren and Adhyatm, both fourteen years old, played with zeal and uninhibited confidence and proved that their earlier wins were no flash in the pan. The duo settled down into a sound combination and handled the pressure well against their senior opponents of Bassem Israfeel and Wiryawan Kiko. Viren took up the role of the aggressor and was severe on anything loose. The thrilling seven-game doubles final went to the wire. The nerves of Viren and Adhyatm were put to test when Bassem and Kiko won the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead. To the delight of the spectators and their supports, Viren and Adhyatm went all out and levelled at 3-games-all to take the match to the decider. The schoolboys showed no signs of nerves and continued to plunder winner after winner to claim a brilliant victor and capture the men’s doubles crown with final scores of 112-10, 5-11, 11-5, 6-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-5.
George Lopez claimed the veterans’ singles title. In a thrilling final, the top seeded Spaniard had his share of anxious moments before overcoming Egyptian Ashraf Ghali 17-15, 9-11, 11-5, 11-4, 13-11. It was a well-contested final that gave the spectators a lot to cheer about.
Dhiren Chaitanya Khimji, CEO of Al Tasnim Enterprises LLC, the main sponsors of the tournament presided over the finals. Also present were C.M. Sardar, Vice-Chairman of ISC, Sajjad Al Lawati of Oman Table Tennis Committee, Altaf Abdul Baqi and office bearers of the ISC. Lucky spectators and players went home with dinner vouchers courtesy of Kesar Restaurant.
