National Games 2023 Table Tennis: Maharashtra's Chinmaya Somaya stuns Sudhansu Grover; Mouma Das makes remarkable comeback

Maharashtra paddler Chinmaya Somaya stunned second-seeded Sudhanshu Grover of Delhi in the second round of the men's singles event in the ongoing National Games at the Campal Indoor Stadium in Goa on Tuesday, October 31.

In the race to best four wins, Chinmaya pocketed the first three games in a row before Sudhanshu threatened a comeback with back-to-back wins. However, the Maharashtra player didn't bog down and completed a 4-2 triumph.

It was a massive disappointment for Sudhanshu after he led Delhi to the men's team championship gold. Other top seed players like West Bengal's Sourav Saha (6) and Ronit Bhanja (8), Haryana's Wesley Do Rosario (9), and Uttar Pradesh's Abhishek Yadav failed to progress in the men's singles event. Abhishek battled with an injury and hence bowed out.

Jash Modi, Agniv Bhaskar Gohain, Divyansh Srivastava, and Jubin Kumar got the better of their respective opponents for a hard-earned win.

Mouma Das stamps her authority

Veteran West Bengal paddler Mouma Das scripted a come-from-behind victory over Harshavardhini Ravichandran, in an intense seven-game thriller, 7-11, 8-11, 11-8, 3-11, 11-9, 11-16, 11-6.

Despite leading 3-1 with just one more game to seal to advance to the pre-quarters, Harshvardhini crumbled against the immense experience of her 39-year-old opponent.

It was the lion-hearted efforts displayed by Mouma that indicated that she cannot be written off even though she was out of action for three years (2019-2022) because of maternity duties.

The Commonwealth Games medallist forced the game to the decider before unleashing wide-angled shots to outwit Harshavardhini at 6-0. There was a bit of fight from the Tamil Nadu paddler in the end but that wasn't enough for Mouma to wrap the game at 11-6.

Maharashtra, who are dominating the overall medal tally in the National Games, have won 1 gold and a bronze in Table Tennis so far. West Bengal have also won two medals, with a silver and a bronze in their bag. Meanwhile, Delhi (gold), Haryana (silver), Assam (bronze), and Madhya Pradesh (bronze) have pocketed one medal apiece.