Ishaan, Afrien progress in Bhavnagar National
Bhavnagar, Nov.10 : Sunday was fruitful day for Gujarat as a few host state players progressed in the ongoing UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships 2019 (central zone) here at SAG sports complex. Ishaan Hingorani and Aafrien Murad all advanced in their respective categories.
Gandhidham-based Ishaan stormed into the pre-quarters of the Youth Boys section. In the round of 32 match Ishaan beat Parthav Kumar 11-5 11-7 12-14 11-7 with some outstanding forehand winners.
In junior girls section Afrien made it to the main draw. In the qualifying round she overcame challenges of Nikita Sarkar and Thanuja of North Bengal and Tamil Nadu respectively.
Meanwhile, among the top eight men seeds, following the exit of second-seed Manush, fourth-seed Siddesh Pande, third-seeded Sudhanshu Grover was denied entry into quarterfinals when he went down to Ronit Bhanja, a lesser seed, 2-4.
On a day which saw quite a few upsets, the fifth-seeded Jeet Chandra and Soumyajit Ghosh, both from Haryana, stormed into the quarterfinals with contrasting wins. It was more or less an easy outing for Ghosh who defeated his former PSPB mate Subhajit Saha 4-1, while Jeet, who took an extra game to outlast LIC’s Sougata Sarkar, struggled. But the interesting match-up was between old warhorse from the Railways, Anirban Nandi and promising youngster Abimanyu Mitra in which the Railways paddler defeated his rival from West Bengal 4-1 to secure his place in the quarters.
Fifth-seeded Archana Kamath, running a low form, yet again became a victim in the pre-quarterfinal when Anusha Kutumbale beat her in straight games. Archana, who is struggling of late, could not cope with the mental pressure for a few tournaments now and succumbed. However, there was no further damage as the remaining six seeds advanced to the quarterfinals.
Yet, it was not an easy passage for former national champion Madhurika Patkar who was almost taken the full distance by Railways Kaushani Nath. It was a real hard-fought win for sixth-seeded Prapti Sen against experienced Pooja Sahasrabudhe.
Results:
Men: Pre-quarterfinals: Sanil Shetty bt Krianjoy Pushilal (WB) 12-10, 11-4, 11-5, 11-6; Jeet Chandra bt Sougata Sarkar (LIC) 11-6, 5-11, 12-10, 11-9, 8-11, 16-14; Birdie Boro (PSPB) bt Raegan Albuquerque (Mah) 11-7, 11-5, 11-8, 13-11; Nitin Thiruvengadam bt RAvindra Kotiyan (Rlys) 11-4, 4-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-6; Ronit Bhanja bt Sudhanshu Grover (PSPB) 11-7, 9-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-4, 11-9; Sushmit Sriram bt Sourav Saha (Har) 9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-9, 8-11, 11-7; Soumyajit Ghosh bt Subhajit Saha (PSPB) 11-3, 11-2, 11-3, 7-11, 11-8; Anirban Nandi bt Abhimanyu Mitra (WB) 7-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-8, 11-8.
Women: Pre-quarterfinals: Sutirtha Mukherjee bt Anikita Das (PSPB) 11-5, 11-6, 11-3, 11-9; Sagarika Mukherjee bt Kowshika Venkatesan (TN) 6-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-7, 11-6, 9-11, 12-10; Anusha Kutumbale bt Archana Kamath (PSPB) 11-6, 11-9, 12-10, 11-8; Sreeja Akula bt Moumita Dutta (Rlys) 11-6, 6-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-6; Madhurika Patkar bt Kaushani Nath (Rlys) 11-6, 9-11, 11-5, 6-11, 11-7, 11-5; Prapti Sen bt Pooja Sahasrabudhe (PSPB) 11-8, 11-8, 3-11, 6-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-9; Reeth Rishya bt Naina (Telg) 11-7, 9-11, 12-10, 8-11, 16-14, 11-5; Ayhika Mukherjee bt Divya Deshpande (PSPB) 11-2, 11-7, 11-4, 11-8.