Unseeded Nandita Saha of North Bengal outplayed top-seeded Mouma Das of Petroleum in the quarterfinals to record the biggest upset in the individual events of the Keventer 72nd senior National and inter-state table tennis here at the Netaji Indoor Stadium on Saturday.
The second day of the individual events saw some seeds losing to lesser-ranked opponents. Seventeen-year-old Soumyajit Ghosh, who is one of the brightest talents to come up from the junior stage, beat former National champion and third-seeded Subhajit Saha of Petroleum in the pre-quarterfinals. He went on to beat Pathik Mehta, who had downed sixth-seeded Anthony Amalraj (Petroleum) in the pre-quarterfinals, in the quarterfinals.
Mouma Das' hopes of reclaiming the title were dashed by an aggressive Nandita. Looking for her first National title, Nandita perfected a variety of shots to unsettle the rhythm of Mouma. Mouma, who salvaged a match point in the sixth game to make it 3-3, failed to maintain the momentum as Nandita raced to a 7-0 lead in the decider. Nandita made no mistakes thereafter and won the game 11-6 to complete the upset.
Sharath through
Achanta Sharath Kamal, the men's top seed, continued his dominant run with victories in both the rounds. He will take on former State-mate and fifth-seeded R. Abhishek in the semifinals. Soumyajit will take on second-seeded Soumyadeep Roy of Petroleum in the other semifinal.
The results: Men: Quarterfinals: A. Sharath Kamal (PSPB) bt Anirban Nandi (WB) 11-5, 11-3, 13-11, 11-9; R. Abishek (TN) bt Sourav Chakraborty (PSPB) 5-11, 12-14, 11-6, 11-5, 11-8, 11-9; Soumyajit Ghosh (NB) bt Pathik Mehta (Guj) 11-4, 11-5, 11-7, 11-7; Soumyadeep Roy (PSPB) bt Sanil Shetty (Mah ‘A') 9-11, 12-10, 11-5, 12-10, 5-11, 15-13. Pre-quarterfinals: Sharath Kamal bt Anal Kashyap (Asm) 11-5, 11-9, 11-8, 11-5; Anirban bt Jubin Kumar (Raj) 11-9, 11-6, 11-7, 12-10; R. Abishek bt Souvik Basu Roy (RSPB) 8-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8; Sourav bt Aman Balgu (Mah ‘A') 11-5, 9-11, 11-7, 15-17, 11-2, 6-11, 11-7; Soumyajit bt Subhajit Saha (PSPB) 11-8, 11-9, 11-8, 11-8; Pathik bt A. Amalraj (PSPB) 5-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-6, 1-11, 8-11, 11-5; Sanil bt Sourav Saha (WB) 6-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-7, 11-9; Soumyadeep bt Devesh Karia (Raj) 11-8, 12-10, 11-5, 11-6.
Women: Quarterfinals: Nandita Saha (NB) bt 1-Mouma Das (PSPB) 3-11, 11-3, 12-10, 9-11, 11-8, 10-12, 11-6; Mamta Prabhu (Mah ‘A') bt Susmita Ray (PSPB) 11-5, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-6; 3-Madhurika Patkar (PSPB) bt Soumi Mandal (PSPB) 11-5, 11-2, 11-9, 11-7; K. Shamini (PSPB) bt 7-Pooja Sahasrabudhe (PSPB) 5-11, 9-11, 14-12, 13-11, 11-6, 11-3. Pre-quarterfinals: Mouma bt Meenu Basak (WB) 11-6, 11-6, 11-4, 11-6; Nandita bt Shreya Ghosh (RSPB) 11-9, 11-2, 11-5, 11-7; Susmita bt Pallavi Kundu (WB) 6-11, 11-5, 11-5, 7-11, 5-11, 11-6, 11-4; Mamta bt T. Reeth Rishya (TN) 12-14, 11-7, 11-4, 11-4, 11-4; Madhurika bt Anindita Chakraborty (WB) 11-6, 11-7, 12-10, 11-9; Soumi bt Ankita Das (NB) 11-13, 11-6, 11-13, 14-12, 8-11, 11-9, 11-2; Pooja Sahasrabudhe bt Kasturi Chakraborty (PSPB) 11-9, 13-11, 19-17, 11-9; K. Shamini bt Kritika Sinha Roy (WB) 11-9, 11-9, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8.
