Willingdon Gymkhana hosts state carrom ranking tournament after 40 years, with 342 players

The first state ranking carrom tournament organised by Willingdon Catholic Gymkhana begins on Saturday, November 14. A total of 342 players from across the state have registered in the men's and women's singles categories.

In the men's singles, Prashant More of Mumbai has been given the top seeding. In the women's singles, the top seeding has gone to Samruddhi Ghadigaonkar of Thane.

The tournament will open at 9 am on Saturday with the men's singles matches. The women's singles matches will be played on Sunday, November 15, in the afternoon. About 40 years ago, the Gymkhana held a state-level invitational carrom tournament. This is the first time since then that an event of this scale is being held, and the organisers are enthusiastic.

In the men's singles, Abhijit Tripankar of Pune is seeded second, Zaid Ahmed of Thane third and Mohammad Ghufran of Mumbai fourth. Nilansh Chiplunkar, Rahim Khan, Sagar Waghmare and Sandeep Dive have been seeded fifth to eighth, in that order.

In the women's singles, Madhura Deval of Thane is seeded second, Shruti Sonawane of Palghar third and Keshar Nirgun of Sindhudurg fourth. Sonali Kumari, Akanksha Kadam, Aisha Sajid Khan and Prajakta Narayankar have been seeded fifth to eighth.

Key matches will be streamed live on the Maharashtra Carrom Association's YouTube channel. Kishor Wagle and Mandar Barde will provide commentary in Marathi, Hindi and English.

For the event, the Maharashtra Carrom Association has appointed international referee Ajit Sawant as chief referee. State-level referee Yogesh Sawant will be assistant chief referee. International referee Ketan Chikhale will serve as technical director, and Arun Kedar will take charge as tournament director.

The Gymkhana will award cash prizes totalling Rs 1.10 lakh to the winners. During the tournament, players, referees and office-bearers will be able to use the Gymkhana's various facilities. The details were given by the Gymkhana's honorary sports secretary, Olympian Joaquim Carvalho, and joint sports secretary, Olympian Mervyn Fernandes.