More than an hour was lost yet again to leaking roof making the completion of matches on time an arduous task.
The organisers explained away the leakage to a structural problem in the Patliputra Sports Complex even as the players quietly went about their business.
It was also a day when there were as many four major upsets; three in women’s singles and one in men’s. For all the three girls, it was their best-ever performance at the Nationals.
Reigning junior under-19 National champion and finalist, Ira Sharma of Haryana and Aakarshi Kashyap (Chhattisgarh) made their first-ever entry into the pre-quarterfinals, with upset-wins over 16th seed Shenan Christian and K. Sri Krishna Priya, seeded third. Assam’s Ashmita Chaliha made it quite a memorable day for herself and her State, defeating Sai Uttejitha Rao Ch., the fourth seed, in three games.
The Ira-Shenan was a match that could have gone either way. Both attacked and defended well throughout. Ira took an 8-3 lead in the third game only to see Shenan come roaring back. From 17-17, Ira raced to victory with some wonderful play at the net.
Krishna Priya was given a yellow and then a red card in her match against Aakarshi by the umpire for “misconduct” when she was trailing 15-18 in the third and deciding game. In a lone upset in the men’s singles A.S.S. Siril Verma upstaged Neeraj Vashisth, the eighth seed, in straight games.
Petroleum’s Sameer Verma, the defending champion, encountered a stiff resistance before overcoming Subhankar Dey of Railways in three games, in the men’s third round.
The results (third round): Men: singles: H.S. Prannoy (PSPB) bt Pallab Bose 21-8, 21-14; Lakshya Sen (Utr) bt Talar Laa (Anp) 21-14, 21-16; S. Daniel Farid (Kar) bt Alap Mishra (MP) 21-11, 21-17; C. Rahul Yadav (TS) bt Kabir Kanzarkar (Rly) 21-15, 21-12; Harsheel Dani (Mah) bt Abhishek Yeligar (Kar) 21-19, 15-21, 21-15; M. Mithun (AI) bt Kiran George (Ker) 21-12, 21-12; Aditya Prakash (PSPB) bt Deepak Khatri (Rly) 21-19, 21-17; Munawer Mohammed (Ker) bt Karan Chouhan (Guj) 21-17, 22-20; Bodhit Joshi (Guj) bt Kartikey Gulshan Kumar (AI) 11-21, 21-12, 21-18; Ansal Yadav (UP) bt Saurav Kapoor (HP) 21-13, 21-15; A.S.S. Siril Verma (TS) bt Neeraj Vashisth (Rly) 24-22, 21-10; Kaushal Dharmamer (AAI) bt Kaustubh Rawat (Del) 21-15, 21-8; Sameer Verma (PSPB) bt Subhankar Dey (Rly) 19-21, 21-14, 21-9; M.G. Hemanth (Kar) bt D. Jaswanth (AP) 21-18, 10-21, 21-15.
Women: singles: Tanvi Lad (PSPB) bt Khushboo Patel (MP) 21-11, 21-14; Riya Pillai (Mah) bt Ishita Kumar Manchander (Cht) 21-18, 21-17; Shruti Mundada (Mah) bt K. Vaishnavi (TS) 21-19, 21-18; Reshma Kartik (AI) bt Rutaparna Panda (Ori) 21-12, 21-10; Ira Sharma (Har) bt Shenan Christian (Guj) 14-21, 21-14, 21-17; Arundhati Pantawane (PSPB) bt Devarshi Sanghvi (Guj) 21-11, 21-17; Shriyanshi Pardeshi (MP) bt Shikha Gautam (Kar) 21-14, 21-17; Ashmita Chaliha (Asm) bt Sai Uttejitha Rao Ch. (AP) 21-18, 20-22, 21-14; Anura Prabhudesai (AAI) bt Mrunmayi Saoji (Mah) 21-11, 25-23; Aakarshi Kashyap (Cht) bt K. Sri Krishna Priya (TS) 18-21, 21-18, 21-17; A.J. Niranjana (Ker) bt Anuriya Das (Rly) 11-12 (conceded); Saili Rane (Rly) bt V. Pramada (TS) 21-16, 21-12; Rasike Raje (AAI) w/o Kaberi Phukon (Rly); Neha Pandit (Mah) bt M. Tanishq (AP) 21-15, 21-14; Ananya Goel (Del) bt Unnati Bisht (Utr) 21-15, 21-13; Rituparna Das (TS) w/o Chimran Kalita (Asm).
