Panchkula: Top-seed Manav Thakkar of the PSPB bowed out of the medal contention as he went down to Payas Jain of Delhi 3-2 in the men’s singles of the UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships at the Tau Devi Lal Indoor Stadium today.
In the upset of the day, Manav had an excellent 2-0 cushion and led 6-5 in the third game before letting the opportunity slip off his hands. The Delhi boy took the lead at 8-6, and that trigger was good enough for him to up the ante.
Manav, making far too many mistakes, could not find a counter to Payas’ close-to-the-net service or his scorching return of service. Whenever the two tried to take the rally long, Payas invariably finished with finesse. Payas led 3-1 in the decider before allowing Manav to claw back to level the score to lead 4-1. But Payas went 5-4 up and reeled off successive points to hold five match points. Manav saved a match point, but his return at the net fetched the last point for Payas to enter the quarterfinals.
In the men’s singles, sixth seed Sanil Shetty bowed out in the round of 32, going down to qualifier P.B. Abhinand from Tamil Nadu. Fresh from his title win in the Youth Boys Under-17 singles yesterday, Abhinand countered well, taking a firm grip after levelling the score in the fourth game. That gave the confidence to the youngster, who played brilliantly against the left-handed former national champion. Later, the TN boy accounted for Aniket Sen Choudhary of West Bengal 3-1 to enter the quarterfinals.’
Earlier, even before the main draw began, fifth seed Anthony Amalraj pulled out of the competition because of fever and body pain.
Unseeded Pritha Vartikar of Maharashtra upset fourth seed Sutirtha Mukherjee 3-2. Pritha lost poorly in the first game but led 2-1 before dropping another game. But the Pune girl outlasted the fourth seed with precise hitting and excellent placements. But for these, other seeds moved up without breaking a sweat.
In the women’s singles round of 32, third seed Moumita Datta and sixth seed Swastika Ghosh went down to Kushi Viswanath of Karnataka 2-3 and Sayali Wani of Maharashtra 1-3.
Second-pair Akash Pal and Poymantee Baisya of the Railways grabbed their chance to lift the Mixed Doubles trophy after beating top seeds Payas Jain and Yashaswini Ghorpade 3-1. The Delhi-Karnataka combine of Payas-Yashwini was the favourite for the crown. But Akash and Poymantee, who missed on the chance at Vijayawada after reaching the final, made quick amends and early inroads to lead 2-1. Payas had to double up for Yashaswini’s missed opportunities, and the duo won the third easily. But beyond that, they could not do much as Akash and Poymantee took complete control of the fourth game and finished in style.
Results:
Men’s Singles (PQF): Payas Jain (Del) bt Manav Thakkar (PSPB) 7-11, 10-12, 11-9, 11-5, 11-6; Jeet Chandra (AAI) bt Jeet Chandra (AAI) 9-11, 11-8, 5-11, 11-7, 11-2; Ronit Bhanja (RSPB) bt Divyansh Srivastava (UP) 11-5, 13-11, 11-7; Manush Shah (RBI) bt Sourav Saha (PSPB) 11-7, 11-5, 11-8; SFR Snehit (AAI) bt Akash Pal (RSPB) 11-8, 5-11, 12-10, 11-5; P.B. Abhinand (TN) bt Aniket Sen Choudhury (WB) 11-5, 7-11, 11-5, 13-11; Sudhanshu Grover (Del) bt Anirban Ghosh (RSPB) 12-10, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6; Harmeet Desai (PSPB) bt Abhimanyu Mitra (IA&AD) 12-10, 11-5, 11-6.
Women’s Singles (PQF): Archana Kamath (PSPB) bt R. Harsha Vardhini (RBI) 11-8, 11-6, 11-4; Poymantee Baisya (RSPB) bt Garima Goyal (Del) 11-7, 11-4, 12-10, 11-5; Yashini Sivashankar (TN) bt Soumya Das (WB) 11-7, 11-3, 11-9; Pritha Vartikar (Mah) bt Sutirtha Mukherjee (RSPB) 3-11, 11-9, 11-6, 6-11, 15-13; Anjali Rohilla (Har) bt Kushi Viswanath (Kar) 11-7, 11-8, 11-3; Sayali Wani (Mah) bt Sayanika Maji (Del) 4-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8; Yashaswini Ghorpade (Kar) bt Selena Deepti Selvakumar (TN) 11-7, 11-6, 11-9; Ayhika Mukherjee (RBI) bt Prapti Sen (WB) 11-7, 11-4, 11-9.
Mixed Doubles: Final: Akash Pal/Poymantee Baisya (RSPB) bt Payas Jain/Yashaswini Ghorpade (Del-Kar) 11-8, 11-8, 5-11, 11-2.
Semifinals: Payas Jain/Yashaswini Ghorpade bt Aniket Sen Choudhury/Munmun Kundu (WB) 11-4, 11-8, 7-11, 11-6; Akash Pal/Poymantee Baisya bt Sarth Mishra/Jennifer Verghese (UP-Mah) 11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-9.
