TN paddler killed in Meghalaya road mishap before national meet

Guwahati, April 18 (IANS) Vishwa Deenadayalan, a Table Tennis player from Tamil Nadu, died and his three teammates were injured in a road mishap in Meghalaya, police said.The tragic incident occurred on Sunday when Vishwa, 18, and three other Tamil Nadu Tennis players were on their way in a tourist taxi from Guwahati airport to Shillong to take part in the 83rd Senior National Table Tennis Championship. The taxi in which the four players were travelling, collided with a 12-wheel truck at Ri-Bhoi district injuring them critically while Vishwa died on the way to Nongpoh Civil hospital.The other three injured players were rushed from Nongpoh to North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) in Shillong.Doctors at the NEIGRIHMS said the three injured players are in a stable condition and out of danger.Vishwa's parents and other family members will travel to Shillong for the handover of his mortal remains.The teenagers had won several junior, sub-junior and cadet titles in the country and abroad.Condoling Vishwa's death, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma tweeted: "Saddened to learn that Tamil Nadu paddler, Deenadayalan Vishwa passed away after an accident in Ri Bhoi district while on his way to Shillong to participate in the 83rd Senior National Table Tennis Championship in our state."The Meghalaya Table Tencessful bowler for CSK while Maheesh Theekshana (2/24), Mukesh Choudhary (1/18), Ravindra Jadeja (1/25) also picked wickets but it was not enough in the end.Earlier, invited to bat first, CSK didn't have a great start as Mohammed Shami struck in the third over of the innings to dismiss Uthappa, who tried to play across the line but was hit on the back leg. The onfield umpire ruled in favour of the batter but a successful review from Gujarat ended Uthappa's stay for 3 off 10.However, Gaikwad targeted the inexperienced Dayal in the fourth over and hit him for a six and a four. But, on the other end, Moeen Ali didn't seem in touch as his struggle at the crease was ended by Alzarri Joseph.From there on, a well-set Gaikwad and new batter Rayudu kept the scoreboard ticking with constant strike rotation and timely boundaries to take CSK to 66/2 after 10 overs.After spending enough time on the pitch, both Gaikwad and Rayudu decided to free their arms and took the Gujarat bowlers to the cleaners by smashing boundaries and sixes all over the ground, taking the score to 124 after 14 overs. During the process, Gaikwad also brought up his first half-century of the season in 37 balls.With both Gaikwad and Rayudu set at the crease, CSK was cruising toward a big total. But Joseph came back and executed the wide-outside-off line to dismiss Rayudu and soon Dayal took the big wicket of Gaikwad in the 17th over as Gujarat made inroads.Joseph and stand-in skipper Rashid Khan bowled the next overs and kept things tight as Jadeja and Dube were failing to connect the ball well. However, Jadeja hit Ferguson for successive sixes off the fourth and the fifth deliveries to provide a flourish as CSK scored 18 runs off the final over to finish with 169-5 on the board.Joseph (2/34) was the most successful bowler for Gujarat while Mohammed Shami (1/20), and Yash Dayal (1/40) chipped in with one wicket each.Brief scores: Chennai Super Kings 169-5 in 20 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 73, Ambati Rayudu 46; Alzarri Joseph 2/34) lost to Gujarat Titans 170-7 in 19.5 overs (David Miller 94 not out, Rashid Khan 40; Dwayne Bravo 3/23) by three wickets
--IANSavn/bsk

(Disclaimer: This post has been auto published from IANS news agency without any modification to the text and has not been reviewed by editor)