Harmeet, Manav go out in semis at National Ranking TT Championships 2021 (NZ)

GANDHIDHAM, Oct. 21: Harmeet Desai and Manav Thakkar suffered disappointing losses as Gujarat’s challenge came to an end at the National Ranking Table Tennis Championships 2021 (North Zone) in Panchkula, Haryana today.
In the Men’s semi-finals, fifth seed Harmeet Desai failed to capitalise on his two-game advantage against Indian table tennis legend and top seed Achanta Sharath Kamal of PSPB as he suffered an 8-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-7, 4-11, 9-11, 10-12 loss against the veteran star.
In another semi-final, second seed Manav Thakkar, who now represents PSPB, too had his moments before suffering a fighting 16-14, 5-11, 6-11, 11-13, 11-6, 11-9, 12-14 loss against third seed Soumyajit Ghosh of Haryana.

Seventh seed Krittwika Sinha Roy too bowed out of the tournament with a 6-11, 6-11, 7-11, 3-11 loss against an unseeded 18-year-old Swastika Ghosh of AAI, who had won the Gold at WTT Youth Contender in Tunis a month back.

In Youth Girls’ (U-19) singles, Filzah Fatema Kadri too suffered a heartbreaking 6-11, 11-8, 12-14, 14-16, 13-11, 6-11 loss against Taneesha Kotecha of Maharashtra B in a pre-quarters tie.
Aafrein Murad, however, lost her opening round match to Tisha Kohli of Delhi 9-11, 9-11, 9-11.
In the Youth Boys’ (U-19) Singles, Chitrax Bhatt found the newly crowned world no. 1 in the under-17 category, Payas Jain, too hot to handle. Chitrax suffered a 4-11, 7-11, 12-10, 8-11, 6-11 loss against the youngster from Delhi in the pre-quarters.
Earlier, Abhilash Raval suffered a straight games loss against Maharashtra A’s Deepit Patil 7-11, 10-12, 5-11 in the second round.

KEY RESULTS:
Women’s Singles
QF: Krittwika Sinha Roy (Guj) lost to Swastika Ghosh (AAI) 6-11, 6-11, 7-11, 3-11
Men’s Singles
SF: Harmeet Desai lost to Achanta Sharath Kamal (PSPB) 8-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-7, 4-11, 9-11, 10-12
Manav Thakkar (PSPB) lost to Soumyajit Ghosh (HRN) 16-14, 5-11, 6-11, 11-13, 11-6, 11-9, 12-14
Youth Girls’ (U-19) Singles
PQF: Filzah Fatema Kadri lost to Taneesha Kotecha (MHR B) 6-11, 11-8, 12-14, 14-16, 13-11, 6-11
Rd1: Aafrein Murad lost to Tisha Kohli (DLI) 9-11, 9-11, 9-11
Youth Boys’ (U-19) Singles
PQF: Chitrax Bhatt lost to Payas Jain (DLI) 4-11, 7-11, 12-10, 8-11, 6-11
Rd2: Abhilash Raval lost to Deepit Patil (MHR A) 7-11, 10-12, 5-11

Written by : Pranjal Protim Boruah