Ranchi: Several seeds, including top seed Ankur Bhattacharjee, exited early, leaving the first quarter of the men’s singles draw open to unseeded competitors at the fifth UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships at the Harivansh Tana Bhagat Indoor Stadium.
Second seed Payas Jain (Delhi) survived an early scare, recovered after losing the first game to beat Anirban Ghosh (RSPB) 3-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-7 and progressed to the quarter-finals.
In the pre-quarterfinals, Mohammed Ali (Telangana) defeated Shridhar Joushi (RSPB) while Sanil Shetty (PSPB) defeated Jayabrata Bhattacharjee (RSPB). Divyanshi Srivastava, Jeet Chandra and Sudhanshu Grover scored solid wins, with H. Jeho (Mizoram) and SFR Snehit (IA&AD) also progressing after confident performances.
Meanwhile, second seed Payas Jain finished the round with a comfortable 3-1 win against Anirban Ghosh (RSPB) after losing the opening game (3-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-7), underlining his growing momentum heading into the quarterfinals.
The women’s singles pre-quarterfinal brought a mix of expected results and surprise upsets, with several top contenders bowing out earlier than expected. The biggest shock of the round came when second seed Yashaswini Ghorpade lost to Ananya Chande 8-11, 4-11, 9-11 in consecutive games. Chande’s aggressive play and sharp counter-attacks ensured that Ghorpade remained on the back foot throughout, which was one of the most remarkable results of the day.
Among other things, top seed Swastika Ghosh continued her good form with a solid 3-1 win over Sayanika Maji. Veteran Madhurika Patkar had to fight hard against Munmun Kundu before prevailing 11-13, 11-4, 11-5, 8-11, 16-14 in a thrilling five-game battle.
Avisha Karmakar and Syndrela Das both registered consecutive wins against Kaushani Nath and Tanishka Kalbhairav respectively, highlighting Bengal’s strong performance in this round. In another close encounter, Sayali Wani made an impressive comeback after losing the first two games to defeat Takeme Sarkar 11-13, 3-11, 11-8, 11-3, 11-1. Sutirtha Mukherjee also battled Selena Deepti for five games before securing a 3-2 win. To conclude the match, Yashini Sivashankar edged out experienced campaigner Reeth Rishya 7-11, 11-7, 11-5, 10-12, 11-7 in another thrilling five-game duel.
The under-19 pre-quarterfinal brought a good mix of predictability and surprises, with the top four boys staying afloat while the girls saw significant upsets, including the top seed’s fall.
In the under-19 boys category, the top quartet – Priyanuj Bhattacharyya, PB Abhinand, MR Balamurugan and Punit Biswas – cleared their respective tests and secured a place in the quarterfinals. However, each of them was pushed to the point of dropping a game before gaining control. Bhattacharyya was stretched by Odisha’s Sarthak Arya in the third game before prevailing 3-1while Abhinand fended off a spirited challenge from West Bengal’s Rupam Sardar 3-1.
Unseeded challengers brought momentum to the round. AAI’s Sudhanshu Maini produced one of the standout performances of the day by overcoming a two-game deficit to defeat eighth seed S. Mehan Kumar of Tamil Nadu 4-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-9 in a thrilling five-game battle. Similarly, West Bengal’s Priyanshu Karmakar saw off sixth seed Kushal Chopda of Maharashtra in another thriller to clinch the decider 11-6 after intense one-on-one play in the middle phase.Sahil Rawat also needed the full distance to defeat Sounav Barman from NCOE 3-2while Delhi Arjav Gupta remained stable and defeated Naman Bhatnagar (HP) 3-1.
In the “Teenage Girls Under 19” section, the script changed dramatically. Top seed M. Hansini of Tamil Nadu lost to Gujarat qualifier Mouboni Chatterjee in a stunning five-game clash second-round excitement beforehand Mouboni She was eliminated in the previous quarter and lost to Himanshi Chowdhary from Karnataka 11:4, 11:5, 15:17, 11:6. Fourth seed Ananya Muralidharan, also from Tamil Nadu, suffered the same fate and was brushed aside in two games by Delhi’s Sayanika Maji.
The remaining seeded players progressed without any major problems. Jennifer Varghese and Naisha Rewaskar of Maharashtra were particularly composed in their victories, while Avisha Karmakar of West Bengal battled through to a challenging 12-10, 7-11, 13-11, 11-6 victory over Riana Bhoota. Vanshika Mudgal (FCI) and Syndrela Das (WB) also came through convincingly and completed the quarter-finals.
Results:
Men’s Singles: Pre-Quarterfinals: Mohammed Ali (Telg) bt Shridhar Joushi (RSPB) 12-10, 8-11, 11-4, 11-7; Sanil Shetty (PSPB) vs Jayabrata Bhattacfharjee (RSPB) 10-12, 11-8, 11-4, 12-10; Divyanshi Srivastava (PSPB) vs Abhimanyu Mitra (IA&AD) 3-11, 12-10, 11-5, 11-7; Jeet Chandra (RSPB) vs Punit Biswas (WB) 11-4, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9; Sudhanshu Grover (Del) vs. Wesley Do Rosario (FCI) 11-6, 11-7, 11-8; H. Jeho (Miz) vs. Aniket Sen Choudhury (WB) 11-3, 12-10, 11-8; SFR Snehit (IA&AD) vs PB Abhinand (TN) 11-8, 11-7, 5-11, 11-3; Pyas Jain (Del) vs Anirban Ghosh (RSPB) 3-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-7.
Women’s Singles: Pre-Quarterfinals: Swastika Ghosh (PSPB) vs Sayanika Maji (Del) 11-6, 11-9, 9-11, 11-2; Madhurika Patkar (PSPB) bt Munmun Kundu (WB) 11-13, 11-4, 11-5, 8-11, 16-14; Avisha Karmakar (WB) by Kaushani Nath (RSPB) 11-8, 11-6, 11-4; Sayali Wani (Mah) bt Takeme Sarkar (RSPB) 11-13, 3-11, 11-8, 11-3, 11-1; Syndrela Das (WB) bt Tanishka Kalbhairav (Kar) 11-6, 11-8, 11-8; Sutirtha Mukherjee (RSPB0 vs. Selena Deepti (N) 11-5, 3-11, 12-10, 6-11, 11-5; Yashini Sivashankar (TN) vs. Reeth Rishya (PSPB) 7-11, 11-7, 11-5, 10-12, 11-7; Ananya Chande (Mah) vs Yashaswini Ghorpade (PSPB) 11-8, 11-4, 11-9.
Youth Boys U-19: Pre-quarterfinals:Priyanuj Bhattacharyya (Asm) bt Sarthak Arya (Ods) 11-2, 11-9, 14-12; Sudhanshu Maini (AAI) vs S Mehan Kumar (TN) 4-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-9; Sahil Rawat (PSPBA) vs Sounav Barman (NCOE) 5-11, 11-6, 11-9, 12-14, 11-8; Punit Biswas (WB) vs Siddhant Kataria (Har) 11-6, 11-5, 9-11, 11-7; MR Balamurugan (TN) ahead of M. Nikkhil Menon (TN) 9-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-8; Priyanshu Karmakar (WB) bt Kushala Chopda (Mah) 9-11, 13-11, 13-11, 11-13, 11-6; Arjav Gupta (Del) bt Naman Bhatnagar (HP) 11-8, 11-8, 7-11, 11-7; PB Abhinand (TN) vs Rupam Sardar (WB) 11-7, 11-8, 8-11, 11-9.
Youth Girls U-19: Pre-quarterfinals: Himanshi Chowdhary (Kar) vs Mouboni Chatterjee (Guj) 11-4, 11-5, 15-17, 11-6; Naisha Rewaskar (Mah) bt Swetapadma Dalai (Ods) 15-13, 11-9, 11-4; Jennifer Varghese (Mah) bt Anwesha Das (WB) 8-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-3; Sayanika Maji (Del) vs Ananya Muralidharan (TN) 11-2, 11-2, 11-7; Kavya Bhatt (Mah) bt Ankolika Chakraborty (WB) 11-9, 11-6, 11-7; Vanshika Mudgal (FCI) vs Aarushi Nandi (WB) 11-7, 10-12, 11-8, 11-2; Avisha Karmakar (WB) by Riana Bhoota (Mah) 12-10, 7-11, 13-11, 11-6; Syndrela Das (WB) vs Shreya Dhar (WB) 11-1, 11-8, 12-10.
