Solaris Cup 2026: Pawar, Salvi, Kirtane, Katariya Enter Finals in Senior Men’s National Tennis

Pune, 22nd January 2026: Sandeep Pawar, Vishal Salvi, Nitin Kirtane, Arun Katariya, Neelkanth Thamre, Ajay Kamath, and Ajit Pendharkar defeated their respective opponents to reach the finals in their categories in the 12th ‘Solaris Cup’ Senior Men’s National Tennis Tournament 2026, jointly organized by Solaris Club and Ravindra Pandya Tennis Academy (RPTA). Nitin Kirtane, Arun Katariya, Neelkanth Thamre, and Ajit Pendharkar have advanced to the finals in both singles and doubles categories, moving closer to a double crown.

In the first round of the main draw of the tournament, which is being held at the Solaris Club in Mayur Colony, Karve Nagar, in a closely contested match in the 35+ age group, Sandeep Pawar defeated Ajinkya Patankar 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 to secure his place in the final. Vishal Salvi defeated Ravindra Pandya of Pune 6-4, 6-1 in straight sets. In the 45+ age group, Pune’s and top-seeded Nitin Kirtane defeated Ratish Ratusariya 6-1, 6-3. In the 55+ age group, top-seeded Neelkanth Thamre defeated Prasanna Khalkar 6-1, 6-0. Pune’s Ajay Kamath easily defeated Ketan Bedekar 6-1, 6-1.

In the 65+ age group, Shrikrishna Kulkarni defeated R.V. Ramarajan 6-0, 4-2. Madhukar K.R. easily defeated Pramod Patil 6-1, 6-1. In the above 70 years category, Kishore Sabnani defeated Suresh Pralhad 6-2, 6-1. B.S. Tulsiram defeated Shiv Mor 6-1, 6-0. In the above 75 years category, top seed Ajit Pendharkar reached the final after a hard-fought victory against Shyam Gaikwad with a score of 6-4, 1-6, 10-6.

Detailed results of the tournament: Main Draw: Semi-finals: Above 35 years category:
Sandeep Pawar defeated Ajinkya Patankar 7-6 (7-4), 6-4;
Vishal Salvi defeated Ravindra Pandya 6-4, 6-1;

Above 45 years category: Semi-finals:
Nitin Kirtane defeated Ratish Ratusariya 6-1, 6-3;
Arun Katariya received a walkover against Mandar Wakankar;

Above 55 years category: Semi-finals:
Neelkanth Thamre defeated Prasanna Khalkar 6-1, 6-0;
Ajay Kamat defeated Ketan Bedekar 6-1, 6-1;

Above 65 years category: Semi-finals:
Shrikrishna Kulkarni defeated R.V. Ramrajan 6-0, 4-2, opponent retired;
Madhukar K.R. defeated Pramod Patil 6-1, 6-1;

Above 70 years category: Semi-finals:
Kishore Sabnani defeated Suresh Pralhad 6-2, 6-1;
B.S. Tulsiram defeated Shiv Mor 6-1, 6-0;

Above 75 years category: Semi-finals:
Ajit Pendharkar defeated Shyam Gaikwad 6-4, 1-6, 10-6; Doubles: 35+ Age Group: Semi-finals:
Ravindra Pandey/Bhishma Desai vs. Vikas Shigwan/Nitin Sawant 6-0, 6-1;

45+ Age Group: Semi-finals:
Arun Katariya/Vikas Vaswani vs. Anant Gupta/Ashitosh Sharma 6-3, 3-6, 10-2;
Nitin Kirtane/Mukund Joshi vs. Parikshit Tambe/Aniruddha Devdhar 6-2, 6-0;

55+ Age Group: Semi-finals:
Ketan Bedekar/Nilkanth Thamare vs. Vijay Kamath/Sunil Mishra 2-6, 6-2, 10-6;

75+ Age Group: Semi-finals:
Ajit Pendharkar/Shyam Gaikwad vs. P. Kuchekar/M. Tholar 6-2, 6-2;
C.R. Gangadharan/Shrikant Parekh vs. Dilip Desai/Mahdeepsingh Gohli 6-0, 6-0;