Inter-institutional TT: Most seeded players in pre-quarters

Kolkata - Men’s ninth seed Devesh Karia and 13th ranked Sourav Chakraborty bit the dust even as most seeded players made it to the pre-quarter-finals in the men’s and women’s sections of the 42nd All India Inter-Institutional Table Tennis Championships here Saturday.

Karia of Central Revenue Sports Board (CRSB) lost to unheralded Sivananda Seshadri of Food Corporation of India, while Chakraborty of Petroleum Sports Promotion Board went down to unseeded Souvik Basu Roy of Railway Sports Promotion Board in the opening round outings at the Khudiram Anushilan Kendra here.

However, it was smooth sailing for title-holder Anthony Amalraj and, runner-up Achanta Sharath Kamal.

In women’s section, out of 16 matches only four ended with straight set results while four went the full distance. However, No.4 seed and Olympian Ankita Das and No.8 Mamata Prabhu, were stretched to the full before they rallied back to move into the round of last 16.

Reigning national champion Poulomi Ghatak was stretched to six games by Indian Bank’s Sumana R. Krishnan, PSPB’s Nandita Saha lost to RSPB’ s Takeme Sarkar 2-4 and Kasturi Chakraborty, also of PSPB, was taken the full distance by Audit’s Manisha Sharma which the former won 4-3.

It was a remarkable recovery by Ankita Das against A.V. Nivedita of the Airports Authority of India. The latter seemed poised for an upset with a 3-1 lead, but some silly mistakes in the fifth game gave the much-needed breathing space for the Siliguri girl. Seizing the opportunity, Ankita inched close to one of her best comeback 9-11, 7-11, 11-3, 11-7, 11-6, 5-11, 11-7 wins in recent times.

Mamata, on the other hand, was down 0-3 against PSPB’s Narasimha Priya. But the Dena Bank paddler not only did a wonderful catch-up act with her attacking game but also ensured her progress with 8-11, 9-11, 12-14, 11-3, 11-2, 11-9, 11-9 triumph. A visibly tiring Priya, who made several unforced errors, only helped Mamata in her cause.

RESULTS: Men’s singles: (Round 32): Amalraj (PSPB) bt Jignesh Jaiswal (Guj) 13-11, 11-9, 11-6, 12-10, L. Sathishwaran (LIC) bt Dharmaraj Rana (ESIC) 11-5, 11-7, 11-4, 11-5, S. Seshadri (FCI) bt Devesh Karia (CRSB) 3-11, 10-12, 14-12, 11-5, 10-12, 11-9, 12-10, G. Sathiyan (PSB) bt S. Prasanna (DB) 7-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-9, 11-3, Soumyadeep Roy (PSPB) bt E. Prabhakaran (RSPB) 13-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-9, Souvik Basu Roy (RSPB) bt Sourav Chakraborty (PSPB) 11-9, 6-11, 4-11, 11-8, 11-9, 12-10, Soumyajit ghosh (PSPB) bt Noel Pinto (Mah) 11-7, 11-7, 11-5, 10-12, 11-7, Sanil Shetty (PSPB) bt Anirban Ghosh 11-8, 11-9, 11-9, 11-8, T. Nithin (AAI) bt Ranabir Das (PSPB) 11-4, 11-8, 8-11, 11-5, 5-11, 11-4, A. Sharath Kamal (PSPB) bt Mohit Verma (IA&AD) 11-4, 11-6, 11-8, 11-6, Harmeet Desai (PSPB) bt S. Sriram (AAI) 11-2, 12-10, 11-3, 11-8, Jubin Kumar (Har) bt Sougata Sarkar (LIC) 14-12, 11-8, 10-12, 11-9, 11-9, Subhajit Saha (PSPB) bt Sarthak Gandhi (FCI) 11-7, 11-9, 11-2, 11-5. Women’s singles: (Round 32): Poulomi Ghatak bt Sumana R. Krishnan 11-5, 10-12, 7-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-7, Krittwika Sinha Roy bt Shweta Parte 11-9, 13-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-4, Kasturi Chakraborty bt Manisha Sharma 11-9, 10-12, 11-4, 11-7, 8-11, 7-11, 11-9, Mamata Prabhu bt Narasimha Priya 8-11, 9-11, 12-14, 11-3, 11-2, 11-9, 11-9, Manika Batra bt Shreya Ghosh 11-6, 11-5, 12-10, 12-10, Madhurika Patkar bt Oishwariya Deb 11-5, 11-2, 11-9, 11-2, Pooja Sahasrabudhe bt Vidya N 7-11, 11-8, 11-4, 12-10, 13-11, Ankita Das bt Niveditha A 9-11, 7-11, 11-3, 11-7, 11-6, 5-11, 11-7, Mouma Das bt Sayantika Kundu 11-4, 11-2, 11-6, 11-7, Takeme Sarkar bt Nandita Saha 11-9, 11-8, 14-12, 7-11, 8-11, 11-8, Soumi Mondal bt Prajkta K Tipale 12-14, 11-5, 11-6, 11-8, 9-11, 5-11, 11-5, Mousmi Paul bt Vishakha Vijay 11-4, 10-12, 11-7, 13-11, 9-11, 11-7, Divya Deshpande bt Karnam Spoorthy 11-6, 11-5, 11-6, 11-6, Neha Agarwal bt Krithicka S 8-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-3, 11-5, Reeth Rishya T bt Anandita Chakraborty11-7, 6-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-4 and Shamini K bt Sutirtha Mukherjee 14-12, 11-6, 11-9, 11-8.