Though Sharath Kamal and Madhurika Patkar are top seeds in the National table tennis championship here this weekend, the form of the leading players projects unpredictable, fiercely-fought battles over the next two days.
Sharath should be happy with the draw since his three major challengers — Soumyajit Ghosh, second seed G. Sathiyan and reigning champion A. Amalraj — are in the bottom half of the draw.
As a result, Sharath could face young Manav Thakkar in the quarterfinals. A victory sets up a clash with either Harmeet Desai or and left-handed Sanil Shetty.
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Going by the performances in the six ranking competitions this season, G. Sathiyan topped the list. He won two titles, finished runner-up once and reached two semifinals. This week, Sathiyan faces a tough draw. Should he get past the left-handed seventh seed Jubin Kumar in the quarterfinals, he is drawn to play either Ghosh or Amalraj.
Among the ladies, Madhurika could find it tough. She will be up against former champion Ankita Das in their projected quarterfinal and is tipped to face the winner of Manika Batra-Mousumi Paul match.
From the bottom half of the draw, second seed Sutirtha Mukherjee has seventh seed Reeth Rishya on the way before a face-off with Mouma Das or Pooja Sahasrabudhe in the semifinal.
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