The cherry on top of an already special day for Rishabh Beria, the Salvador-based tennis player advanced to the quarterfinals of the open men’s category in the ongoing second edition of the Baale BPS Open tennis tournament on his 41st birthday, defeating his opponent Prithvi Naik 6-4. Rishabh was joined in the quarterfinal stage by Prince Agnelo de Silva, who easily outdid Pankaj Naik (6-1) in the same open category.
The Baale BPS Open 2025, which is being held at the B.P.S. Club courts in Margao, also witnessed a slew of matches in the Masters category, which saw Neville Menezes edge out Kishor Metry (6-4), Manoj knocking out the challenge from Marcus DCosta (6-0) and Caetano Fernandes sweat it out in his duel against Noel Noronha (7-5) in the 45+ men’s singles quarterfinals to make it to the semifinal round. In another match in the same category, Sameer Kakodkar blanked Mervin Soares (6-0).
In the 55+ men’s singles quarterfinal event, Noel Noronha defeated Sameer Kakodkar (6-3), while Caetano Fernandes ousted Savio Vales (6-1). The masters 45+ men’s doubles category saw Kedar Tari/Allan Fernandes defeat Sagar Utagi/Ashokkumar Borkar (6-1) to reach the semifinal, while Sunil Signapurkar paired up with Shubert Calaco to vanquish Anup Sardesai/Dean (6-2). In another match in the 55+ men’s doubles category, Raju/Aman Prabhu defeated Savio Vales/Hemant Bhide 6-2 to progress to the semifinal.
The tournament, which has received a lot of participation from youngsters, saw Shaurya Verlekar outwit Gaurang Nerurkar 7-6 (2) in a tough encounter, while Alec Cris Barreto, Kyan K Mavany and Vidaal De Menezes made light work of their opponents Arsh Sardesai, Kaivalya Devaraya and Tanish Bandodkar, respectively, defeating them 6-1 in the boys under-18 category. Playing in the same category, Ethan De Ataide and Shreyas Patil trounced Vihaan Krishnan and Devansh Naik (6-0), respectively.
In keenly contested matches in the boys under-14 category, Aarin Ballani overcame a stiff challenge from Tanish Bandodkar (7-5), while Aarav Kumar defeated Satya Stewart (6-4). Arhan Gaunkar and Shaurya Verlekar made light work of their opponents Aarav Kumar and Christian Fernandes, respectively, defeating them 6-1, while Timofei Polosin defeated Sairaj Narvenkar (6-0).
In the three matches played in the men’s doubles event, Dustan Dias/Deepak defeated Sachin Arun Ambre/Pankaj Naik (7-5), Wes Ryan/Sanket Nayak knocked out Gary Steele/Satya (6-0) and Nihaal Borkar/Kane Pereira beat Rishabh Beria/Tarang Doshi (6-2).
