Dipal Bhana fights off father on road to table tennis title

Dipal Bhana bagged the men’s singles title at the weekend’s Nelson Mandela Bay Table Tennis Open tournament.

He accounted for Neil Hendricks 3-1 (9-11 11-9 11-2 11-8) to secure the title.

Earlier, Bhana came up against his father, Rajesh, in the semifinal.

What appeared to be a walk in the park for Dipal proved to be a tough assignment as he had to pull out all the stops to defeat his father 11-8 11-8 11-7 to reserve his place in the all-Aryans final.

In the opposite half of the draw, Hendricks had his hands full when he came up against Wynand van Eyk, but in the end he prevailed 3-1 (11-9 9-11 11-7 11-3).

In the semifinal, his opponent, Shahied Abrahams, retired injured.

The men’s doubles final saw Dipal and Rajesh Bhana take on Philo Moodaley and Kabeer Choonara in a hard-fought battle.

In the end, the Bhana pair shaded their opponents 11-6 9-11 11-8 11-3 for a 3-1 victory.

The pair of Moodaley and Choonara got a walkover into the final.

Eugene Stallenburg, the number one seed, clinched the women’s singles title, and the mixed doubles with Choonara.

In the women’s doubles, Stallenburg paired with Chervon Nysschens to take on Michaela Oosthuizen and Armiena Muller in a well-contested final.

Stallenburg and Nysschens eventually prevailed 3-1 (13-15 11-7 11-9 11-9).