Sathiyan and Poymantee bow out to qualifiers

Thiruvananthapuram: Top seeds G. Sathiyan and Poymantee Baishya suffered a shock before the quarter-finals of the UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championship held at Jimmy George Indoor Stadium today, paving the way for new competitors to claim the title in men’s and women’s singles. . The defeats were unexpected, as both players were outplayed by younger and less experienced opponents who showed impressive stamina.

Sathiyan, who had just won the title at the Corporate Championships in Chandigarh, faced 10th seed Akash Pal of Railways. Despite a strong start, Sathiyan could not match Akash’s consistency near and far from the table. Sathiyan, who was narrowly defeated in the first game (11-13), struggled in the second game, but Akash regained control and closed the match 13-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-8.

In the women’s singles, Poymantee competed against Jennifer, who put in a strong performance. After losing the first game, the Railways women dug deeper and earned a 16-14 victory in the second game. Poymantee couldn’t get any more settled and Jennifer won the match 11-4, 14-16, 11-8, 11-7 to advance to the quarter-finals with a rare victory over the top seed.

Other seeds were also seen falling early on the same day. The exciting match between 14th seed Sudhanshu Grover and qualifier Ankur Bhattacharjee fascinated the audience. Grover was leading 2-1 and had an 8-7 advantage in the fourth match, but Ankur fought back and managed to win the match 8-11, 10-12, 11-9, 13-11, 11-5. Meanwhile, qualifier Syndrela Das defeated third seed Yashaswini Ghorpade, who faltered after taking a 2-1 lead. Das’ persistence and sharp play earned him the 11-6, 9-11, 11-9, 8-11, 7-11 victory.

In the Under-19 Men’s quarter-finals, Ankur Bhattacharjee, Punit Biswas, Priyanuj Bhattacharyya and Kushal Chopda advanced to the semi-finals. Punit won the last two matches with courage and skill, overcoming a 1-2 deficit against Tamil Nadu’s Umesh Kumar. While Kushal Chopda defeated PB Abhinand in a tight match, Abhinand faltered in the decisive fifth match.

In the Under-19 Girls quarter-finals, Pritha Vartikar, Syndrela Das, Ananya Muralidharan and Ananya Chande advanced to the semi-finals without any problems and all won 3-0.

Both the men’s and women’s semi-finals, including the U-19 finals, will take place later this evening. The last day of the championship will witness exciting matches.

Results:

Men’s Singles: Before quarter final: Akash Pal (RSPB) and G. Sathiyan (PSPB) 3-1; PB Abhinand (TN) and Sarthak Gandhi (Har) 3-0; Divyansh Srivastava (UP) and Punish Biswas (WB) 3-0; Ankur Bhattacharjee (PSPB) vs Sudhanshu Grover (Del) 3-2; Manush Shah (RBI) and Jash Modi (Mah) 3-0; Yashansh Malik (AAI) and Deepit R. Patil (AAI) 3-1; SFR Snehit (IA&AD) and Payas Jain (Del) 3-1; Manav Thakkar (PSPB) and Anthony Amalraj (PSPB) 3-0.

Ladies Singles: Before quarter final: Jennifer Varghese (Mah) and Poymantee Baishya (RSPB) 3-1; Taneesha Kotecha (Mah) and Reeth Rishya (PSPB) 3-1; Pritha Vartikar (Mah) and Moumita Dutta (RSPB) 3-0; Swastika Ghosh (AAI) and Suhana Saini (Har) 3-1; Syndrela Das (WB) and Yashaswini Ghorpade (PSPB) 3-2; Diya Chitale (RBI) and Avisha Krmakar (WB) 3-0; Sutirtha Mukherjee (RSPB) bt Yashini Sivashankar (IA&AD) 3-1; Sayali Wani (Mah) and Nikhat Banu (RBI) 3-2.

Junior Men’s U-19 Singles: Quarterfinal: Ankur Bhattacharjee (PSPB) bt 11-6, 11-7, 8-11, 14-12; 11-7, 8-11, 14-12; Punit Biswas (WB) and Umesh Kumar (TN) 11-8, 5-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-8; Priyanuj Bhattacharyya (Asm) and Preyesh Raj (TN) 13-15, 11-7, 11-8, 11-4; Kushal Chopda (Mah) and PB Abhinand (TN) 11-8, 5-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-7.

Junior Girls U-19 Singles: Quarterfinal: Pritha Vartikar (Mah) and Nandini Saha (WB) 11-9, 11-8, 5-11, 11-7; Syndrela Das (WB) and Suhana Saini (Har) 11-5, 11-9, 11-8; Ananya Muralidharan (TN) and Diya Brahmachary (Del) 11-5, 11-9, 11-7; Ananya Chande (Mah) and Taneesha Kotecha (Mah) 11-9, 11-6, 11-9.