Upsets, close calls , thrilling battles mark the day

Surat (Team Newsbuddy): The UTT 86th Senior National Inter-State Table Tennis Championships at the Pandit Dindayal Upadhyay Indoor Stadium delivered a mix of upsets, close calls, and thrilling battles. Even as 15 of the 16 seeded players in the men’s singles advanced to the Round of 32, the day wasn’t without its share of surprises.

The most notable upset came when 13th seed P.B. Abhinand, playing without his coach, fell to Arjav Gupta of PSPB Academy in a 1-3 defeat. Abhinand, representing Tamil Nadu, struggled to find his rhythm after squandering two game points in the opener. Although he showed glimpses of a fightback with a dominant third game, Arjav held his nerve to seal the match 13-11, 11-8, 5-11, 11-9.

Second seed Ankur Bhattacharjee endured a nail-biter against Assam’s Priyanuj Bhattacharyya, scraping through with a 3-2 victory. The decider was a rollercoaster, with the players tied 5-5 before Ankur surged to a 10-5 lead. Priyanuj launched a late rally, forcing Ankur to take a timeout at 10-7. The brief pause worked in Ankur’s favour, as he regrouped to close the match and secure a spot in the next round.

The clash between 16th seed Jeet Chandra of Railways and Telangana’s Mohammad Ali kept spectators on edge. Jeet narrowly escaped a potential upset, emerging victorious in a hard-fought 3-2 encounter.

Delhi’s 12th seed Yashansh Malik had a shaky start against Gujarat’s Ayaz Murad, with the local paddler pushing him hard in the first two games. Yashansh regained control in the third and eventually wrapped up the match 3-1. Meanwhile, Mizoram’s H. Jeho showcased resilience against Haryana’s Sarthak Gandhi. After trailing 1-2, Jeho mounted a comeback and edged out Sarthak in a tense decider, winning 11-9 to seal a 3-2 victory.

In the women’s singles, the top seeds, who received first-round byes, faced action in the Round of 64. Top seed Sreeja Akula was forced to dig deep against Gujarat’s Pratha Pawar. Trailing 1-2, Sreeja displayed nerves of steel to level the match with a gritty 12-10 win in the fourth game. Her experience shone through in the decider as she edged past Pratha 12-10 again.

Eighth-seeded and defending champion Poymantee Baisha of RSPB suffered a surprising defeat against Nandini Saha of West Bengal, who triumphed with a scoreline of 6-11, 11-8, 3-11, 12-10, 11-6. Despite Poymantee leading 2-1, a dramatic 12-10 victory in the fourth game shifted the momentum in Nandini’s favour, leaving the Railways player unable to recover. Fifth seed Taneesha Kotecha also survived a scare, defeating Railways’ Sagarika Mukherjee 3-2 in a fiercely contested match.

Important results:

Men’s singles: Second round: (1) G. Sathiyan (PSPB) bt Chinmaya Somaiya (Mah) 11-7, 9-11, 11-5, 11-9; Agniv Bhaskar Gohain (Asm) bt Sougata Sarkar (LIC) 6-11, 11-8, 3-11, 11-8, 11-6; (16) Jeet Chandra (RSPB) bt Mohammed Ali (Tel) 11-2, 9-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-5; (9) A. Amalraj (PSPB) bt Rounak Mazumder (Ben) 8-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-5; Abhimanyu Mitra (IA&AD) bt Kushal Chopda , (Mah) 11-9, 11-9, 9-11, 11-13, 11-5; S. Karthikeyanm (TN) bt Shankhadip Das (Ben) 7-11, 13-11, 11-8, 6-11, 12-10; H. Jeho (Miz) bt Sarthak Gandhi (Har) 8-11, 11-4, 4-11, 11-6, 11-9; Bodhisatwa Chaudhary (Ben) bt Rohith Shankar (Kar) 11-6, 7-11, 10-12, 11-6, 11-8; Siddhesh Pande (Mah) bt S. Preyesh Raj (TN) 12-14, 11-2, 11-3, 11-7; (2) Ankur Bhattacharjee (PSPB) bt Priyanuj Bhattacharyya (Asm) 11-9, 9-11, 11-8, 6-11; 11-7.