Nashik, Oct 12
City boy Kushal Chopra won the gold medal in the under-19 boys category in the ongoing fourth state ranking table tennis tournament at Thane. He was honoured with a cash prize.
Before entering the finals, Kushal defeated second seed Jash Modi of TSTTA Mumbai by 3-2 in a close match. The score of each round was 11-5, 6-11, 11-7, 7-11 and 11-7 to enter the finals. In the final match, Kushal faced TSTTA Mumbai's own first seed Sagar Kasture. Kushal defeated Kasture by 11-4, 11-5, 11-6 and 14-12 to claim his first title of the season. Kushal was ranked seventh in this competition. Kushal was selected by the Table Tennis Federation of India to coach the women's team that participated in the recent Asian Championship in a pre-competition training camp. The training camp was held in Bengaluru. He is practicing under the guidance of Jai Modak.
The president of Nashik District Table Tennis Association Narendra Chhajed, Shekhar Bhandari, Milind Kachole, Rajesh Bharveerkar Abhishek Chhajed, Alka Kulkarni, Sanjay Vasant, Jai Modak Rajesh Vani, Ajinkya Shintre, Suhas Agarkar have congratulated him for the striking success.