The Hindu : Sport / Table Tennis : Abhishek ambushes Amalraj

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Sport - Table Tennis

Abhishek ambushes Amalraj

Rakesh Rao

Sanil prevailed over Saurav in a marathon battle
Mousumi stuns Neha

AJMER: Fifth seed A. Amalraj did nothing to justify the tag of being the second-highest ranked Indian in the game. The fleet-footed campaigner surprisingly headed the casualty list that included four seeds from each section in the open events of the 40th inter-institutional table tennis championship here on Saturday.

The monotony of expected results over the past three days was finally broken when some of the lesser known names enjoyed their moment of success for a place in the quarterfinals.

After blowing away a two-game advantage against a defensive R. Abhishek, Amalraj found himself on the sidelines in the company of three lower seeds, Saurav Chakraborty, Soumyajeet Ghosh and Pathik Mehta, seeded six to eight.

Among the girls, fourth seed Neha Aggarwal tossed away five matchpoints against Mousumi Paul and joined Mouma Das, Soumi Mondal and Nandita Saha in making a premature exit.

Amalraj, who has moved to his career-best ranking of 191 in the revised world ranking list on Saturday, paid the penalty for lacking patience against Abhishek.

The two Tamil Nadu players stuck to their contrasting styles and eventually, the unflustered Abhishek came out stronger by reeling off four games on the trot. Later, in a marathon battle of left-handers, Sanil Shetty proved stronger than the more experienced Chakraborty.

Sathiyan rallies to win

A little earlier, the match between two of India's finest juniors and good friends, unseeded G. Sathiyan bounced back to beat seventh seed Soumyajit Ghosh. Sathiyan saved three match-points to win after making light of three-point deficits in the last two games.

The only surprise of the second round was the loss of eighth seed Pathik Mehta to Sougata Sarkar.

In the women's section, Dena Bank's Mamta Prabhu accounted for veteran Railway champion Anindita Chakraborty and Petroleum's National champion Mouma Das to reach the last-eight stage.

Divya Deshpande took out sixth seed Soumi Mondal in seven games while Ankita Das stunned eighth seed Nandita Saha.

The results: Men's singles (Pre-quarterfinals): A. Sharath Kamal (Pet) bt R. Rajesh (LIC) 11-6, 11-9, 14-12, 12-10; Sougata Sarkar (WB) bt Raj Mondal (AAI) 13-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-5; R. Abhishek (AI) bt A. Amalraj (Pet) 8-10, 10-12, 11-2, 11-8, 11-7, 11-5; Zubin Kumar (Pet) bt G. Vinod (Rlys) 6-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-8, 5-11, 12-10; Harmeet Desai (Rlys) bt Aniket Koparkar (Pet) 12-10, 11-9, 11-8, 11-4; Sanil Shetty (AI) bt Saurav Chakraborty (Pet) 11-5, 10-12, 8-11, 11-5, 14-12, 8-11, 11-7; G. Sathiyan (Pet) bt Soumyajit Ghosh (AAI) 11-8, 7-11, 4-11, 11-9, 4-11, 11-8, 13-11; Soumyadeep Roy (Pet) bt Sayan Pal Roy (Rlys) 11-4, 11-8, 8-11, 11-6, 11-8.

Doubles (semifinal): A. Sharath Kamal & Zubin Kumar (Pet) bt Soumyajit Ghosh & Raj Mondal (AAI) 3-11, 11-7, 11-9, 13-11.

Women's singles (Pre-quarterfinals): Poulomi Ghatak (Pet) bt Kasturi Chakraborty (Pet) 11-8, 11-4, 11-4, 11-5; Ankita Das (NB) bt Nandita Saha (Pet) 11-4, 5-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-7; Mamta Prabhu (DB) bt Mouma Das (Pet) 11-7, 11-3, 12-10, 11-3; Mousumi Paul (Pet) bt Neha Aggarwal (Pet) 11-6, 7-11, 15-13, 8-11, 11-5, 16-14, 11-5; Madhumita Patkar (Pet) bt Mallika Bhandarkar (AI) 8-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-9, 11-6; Divya Deshpande (Pet) bt Soumi Mondal (Pet) 7-11, 11-7, 12-10, 9-11, 10-12, 11-9, 11-6; Pooja Sahastrabudhe (Pet) bt A. V. Niveditha (AAI) 11-9, 8-11, 10-12, 11-6, 11-9, 11-8; K. Shamini (Pet) bt Sushmita Ray (Rlys) 11-7, 11-5, 11-3, 11-3.

Doubles (semifinals): Poulomi Ghatak & Mouma Das (Pet) bt Kabita Das & Medha Moitra (AAI) 11-7, 11-7, 8-11, 11-7; 2-K. Shamini & Madhurika Patkar (Pet) bt N. Arul Selvi & Reeth Rishya (IB) 12-10, 8-11, 11-6, 3-11, 11-7 .

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