Defending champion Manika Bartra crashed out while former champion Poulomi Ghatak stormed into the semifinals in the women’s category of the 42nd all-India inter-institutional table tennis tournament on Sunday.
The women’s quarterfinals and pre-quarterfinals at the Khudiram Indoor Stadium on Sunday saw a virtual shake-up as fifth-seeded Manika Batra and former National champions — second-seeded K. Shamini and third-seeded Mouma Das — fell by the wayside.
In the men’s quarterfinals top-seeded Anthony Amalraj and six-time National champion Achanta Sharath Kamal reached the last-four stage.
Saha pulls out
Second-seeded Subhajit Saha did produce a fine performance to win his pre-quarterfinal earlier in the day but could not play the quarterfinals as he had to retire with a bout of high fever. The Petroleum team manager, D.V. Sundar, informed Subhajit had contacted dengue fever and was forced to give a walk-over to Harmeet Desai.
Olympian and fourth-seeded Soumyajit Ghosh easily saw off former National champion Soumyadip Roy.
The women’s pre-quarterfinals saw the title-holder and fifth-seeded Manika Batra being shown the door by the unseeded Madhurika Patkar 2-4.
Madhurika, a former India player, showed good form and won the crucial points to end Manika’s hopes.
A minefield
The quarterfinals became a virtual minefield for the seeds. Shamini’s performance continued to remain error prone as seventh-seeded Divya Deshpande beat her easily to reach the last-four stage.
Mouma Das too floundered with her game against sixth-seeded Mousmi Paul, who emerged victor in a gruelling match.
The women’s semifinal showdown will feature top-seeded Poulomi Ghatak against the young Ankita Das, who beat Madhurika in the quarterfinals, while Divya Deshpande will take on Mousmi Paul.
The men’s draw saw things going generally as per form and expectations as holder and top-seeded Amalraj, got the better of country’s No. 1 youth player G. Sathiyan 4-1.
After Soumyajit Ghosh had downed Soumyadeep Roy 4-1, Sharath Kamal defeated Sanil Shetty by a similar margin to move into the semifinals. Amalraj and Soumyajit will clash in the first semifinal while Harmeet Desai will take on Sharath Kamal in the other match.
The results:
Men’s singles: Quarterfinals: A. Sharath Kamal (PSPB) bt Sanil Shetty (PSPB) 11-4, 11-5, 8-11, 11-9, 11-9, Harmeet Desai (PSPB) w/o Subhajit Saha (PSPB), Soumyajit Ghosh (PSPB) bt Soumyadeep Roy (PSPB) 9-11, 12-10, 11-3, 11-5, 11-6, A. Amalraj (PSPB) bt G. Sathiyan (PSPB) 9-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-6, 11-6.
Pre-quarterfinals: Amalraj bt Sathishwaran (LIC) 11-6, 11-7, 11-9, 11-8, Soumyajit bt Souvik Basu Roy (RSPB) 11-5, 11-9, 11-9, 11-6, Soumyadeep bt Aman Balgu (RSPB) 11-1, 11-9, 6-11, 11-7, 11-9, Sathiyan bt Sivananda Seshadri (FCI) 11-8, 9-11, 11-9, 11-5, 7-11, 11-3, Sanil bt Souvik Kar (RSPB) 6-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-5, 11-8, Sharath Kamal bt T. Nitin 11-7, 11-5, 11-2, 7-11, 11-7, Subhajit bt Jubin Kumar (Har) 11-9, 9-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-9, Harmeet bt Abhishek Yadav (PSPB) 11-5, 11-9, 11-8, 9-11, 11-7.
Women’s singles: Quarterfinals: Ankita Das (PSPB) bt Madhurika Patkar (PSPB) 11-7, 11-4, 113, 11-5, Divya Deshpande (PSPB) bt K. Shamini (PSPB) 11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-5, Poulomi Ghatak (PSPB) bt Mamata Prabhu (DB) 11-8, 16-14, 4-11, 11-9, 11-5, Mousmi Paul (PSPB) bt Mouma Das (PSPB) 11-3, 7-11,11-8, 13-11, 8-11, 4-11, 11-9.
Pre-quarterfinals: Poulomi bt Kritwika Sinha Roy (AAI) 11-5, 11-6, 11-6, 11-4, Mamata bt Kasturi Chakrborty (PSPB) 11-8, 10-12, 11-6, 11-9, 5-11, 11-5, Ankita bt Pooja Sahasrabudhie (PSPB) 9-11, 11-9, 11-5, 13-11, 8-11, 6-11, 11-6, Madhurika bt Manika Batra (PSPB) 8-11, 12-10, 13-11, 11-7, 6-11, 11-8, Mouma bt Takeme Sarkar (RSPB) 11-13, 11-8, 11-4, 11-3, 7-11, 11-8, K. Shamini bt T. Reeth Rishya (PSPB) 11-4, 11-9, 11-2, 4-11, 11-8, Mousmi bt Soumi Mondal (PSPB) 11-6, 11-2, 11-1, 11-13, 11-9, Divya bt Neha Aggarwal (PSPB) 4-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-6, 11-6.
