Upsets galore as seeds fall at Ranchi National Ranking TT

Ranchi: Several seeds, including top seed Ankur Bhattacharjee, crashed out early, leaving the first quarter of the men’s singles draw wide open for unseeded contenders at the fifth UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships at the Harivansh Tana Bhagat Indoor Stadium.

Second seed Payas Jain (Delhi) survived an early scare, rallying after losing the first game to beat Anirban Ghosh (RSPB) 3-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-7 and enter the quarterfinals.

In the pre-quarterfinals, Mohammed Ali (Telangana) edged past Shridhar Joushi (RSPB), while Sanil Shetty (PSPB) downed Jayabrata Bhattacharjee (RSPB). Divyanshi Srivastava, Jeet Chandra, and Sudhanshu Grover notched solid wins, with H. Jeho (Mizoram) and SFR Snehit (IA&AD) also advancing after confident displays.

Meanwhile, Payas Jain, the second seed, capped off the round with a confident 3-1 win against Anirban Ghosh (RSPB) after dropping the opening game (3-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-7), underscoring his growing momentum heading into the quarterfinals.

The women’s singles pre-quarterfinals produced a mix of expected results and stunning upsets, with several top contenders bowing out earlier than anticipated. The biggest shock of the round came when second seed Yashaswini Ghorpade fell to Ananya Chande in straight games, 8-11, 4-11, 9-11. Chande’s aggressive play and sharp counter-attacks kept Ghorpade on the back foot throughout, marking one of the day’s most notable results.

Among other matches, top seed Swastika Ghosh continued her fine form with a solid 3-1 victory over Sayanika Maji. Veteran Madhurika Patkar had to dig deep against Munmun Kundu before prevailing 11-13, 11-4, 11-5, 8-11, 16-14 in a tense five-game battle.

Avisha Karmakar and Syndrela Das both registered straight-game wins over Kaushani Nath and Tanishka Kalbhairav, respectively, underlining Bengal’s strong showing in this round. In another tight encounter, Sayali Wani mounted an impressive comeback after losing the first two games to defeat Takeme Sarkar 11-13, 3-11, 11-8, 11-3, 11-1. Sutirtha Mukherjee also endured a five-game tussle against Selena Deepti before sealing a 3-2 win. Rounding off the action, Yashini Sivashankar edged out experienced campaigner Reeth Rishya in another gripping five-game duel, 7-11, 11-7, 11-5, 10-12, 11-7.

The Under-19 pre-quarterfinals produced a fine mix of predictability and surprises, with the top four boys’ seeds staying afloat even as the girls’ section witnessed significant upsets, including the ouster of the top seed.

In the Youth Boys’ Under-19 category, the top quartet—Priyanuj Bhattacharyya, P.B. Abhinand, M.R. Balamurugan, and Punit Biswas—weathered their respective tests to secure quarterfinal berths. Each, however, was pushed enough to drop a game before asserting control. Bhattacharyya was stretched in the third game by Odisha’s Sarthak Arya before prevailing 3-1, while Abhinand fought off a spirited challenge from West Bengal’s Rupam Sardar 3-1.

Unseeded challengers added spark to the round. AAI’s Sudhanshu Maini produced one of the day’s standout performances, overturning a two-game deficit to oust eighth seed S. Mehan Kumar of Tamil Nadu 4-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-9 in a pulsating five-game battle. Similarly, West Bengal’s Priyanshu Karmakar edged out sixth seed Kushal Chopda of Maharashtra in another thriller, sealing the decider 11-6 after trading intense deuce games in the middle stages.Sahil Rawat also needed the full distance to overcome Sounav Barman of NCOE 3-2, while Delhi’s Arjav Gupta kept steady to beat Naman Bhatnagar (HP) 3-1.

In the Youth Girls’ Under-19 section, the script flipped dramatically. Top seed M. Hansini of Tamil Nadu fell to Gujarat’s qualifier Mouboni Chatterjee in a stunning five-game second-round upset before Mouboni herself bowed out in the pre-quarters, losing to Karnataka’s Himanshi Chowdhary 11-4, 11-5, 15-17, 11-6. Fourth seed Ananya Muralidharan, also from Tamil Nadu, suffered the same fate, brushed aside by Delhi’s Sayanika Maji in straight games.

The remaining seeded players advanced without much trouble. Jennifer Varghese and Naisha Rewaskar of Maharashtra were particularly composed in their victories, while Avisha Karmakar of West Bengal battled through a testing 12-10, 7-11, 13-11, 11-6 win over Riana Bhoota. Vanshika Mudgal (FCI) and Syndrela Das (WB) also moved through convincingly to complete the quarterfinal lineup.

Results:

Men’s Singles: Pre-quarterfinals: Mohammed Ali (Telg) bt Shridhar Joushi (RSPB) 12-10, 8-11, 11-4, 11-7; Sanil Shetty (PSPB) bt Jayabrata Bhattacfharjee (RSPB) 10-12, 11-8, 11-4, 12-10; Divyanshi Srivastava (PSPB) bt Abhimanyu Mitra (IA&AD) 3-11, 12-10, 11-5, 11-7; Jeet Chandra (RSPB) bt Punit Biswas (WB) 11-4, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9; Sudhanshu Grover (Del) bt Wesley Do Rosario (FCI) 11-6, 11-7, 11-8; H. Jeho (Miz) bt Aniket Sen Choudhury (WB) 11-3, 12-10, 11-8; SFR Snehit (IA&AD) bt P.B. Abhinand (TN) 11-8, 11-7, 5-11, 11-3; Pyas Jain (Del) bt Anirban Ghosh (RSPB) 3-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-7.

Women’s Singles: Pre-quarterfinals: Swastika Ghosh (PSPB) bt Sayanika Maji (Del) 11-6, 11-9, 9-11, 11-2; Madhurika Patkar (PSPB) bt Munmun Kundu (WB) 11-13, 11-4, 11-5, 8-11, 16-14; Avisha Karmakar (WB) bt Kaushani Nath (RSPB) 11-8,11-6, 11-4; Sayali Wani (Mah) bt Takeme Sarkar (RSPB) 11-13, 3-11, 11-8, 11-3, 11-1; Syndrela Das (WB) bt Tanishka Kalbhairav (Kar) 11-6, 11-8, 11-8; Sutirtha Mukherjee (RSPB0 bt Selena Deepti (N) 11-5, 3-11, 12-10, 6-11, 11-5; Yashini Sivashankar (TN) bt Reeth Rishya (PSPB) 7-11, 11-7, 11-5, 10-12, 11-7; Ananya Chande (Mah) bt Yashaswini Ghorpade (PSPB) 11-8, 11-4, 11-9.

Youth Boys U-19: Pre-quarterfinals:Priyanuj Bhattacharyya (Asm) bt Sarthak Arya (Ods) 11-2, 11-9, 14-12; Sudhanshu Maini (AAI) bt S. Mehan Kumar (TN) 4-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-9; Sahil Rawat (PSPBA) bt Sounav Barman (NCOE) 5-11, 11-6, 11-9, 12-14, 11-8; Punit Biswas (WB) bt Siddhant Kataria (Har) 11-6, 11-5, 9-11, 11-7; M.R. Balamurugan (TN) bt M. Nikkhil Menon (TN) 9-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-8; Priyanshu Karmakar (WB) bt Kushala Chopda (Mah) 9-11, 13-11, 13-11, 11-13, 11-6; Arjav Gupta (Del) bt Naman Bhatnagar (HP) 11-8, 11-8, 7-11, 11-7; P.B. Abhinand (TN) bt Rupam Sardar (WB) 11-7, 11-8, 8-11, 11-9.

Youth Girls U-19: Pre-quarterfinals: Himanshi Chowdhary (Kar) bt Mouboni Chatterjee (Guj) 11-4, 11-5, 15-17, 11-6; Naisha Rewaskar (Mah) bt Swetapadma Dalai (Ods) 15-13, 11-9, 11-4; Jennifer Varghese (Mah) bt Anwesha Das (WB) 8-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-3; Sayanika Maji (Del) bt Ananya Muralidharan (TN) 11-2, 11-2, 11-7; Kavya Bhatt (Mah) bt Ankolika Chakraborty (WB) 11-9, 11-6, 11-7; Vanshika Mudgal (FCI) bt Aarushi Nandi (WB) 11-7, 10-12, 11-8, 11-2; Avisha Karmakar (WB) bt Riana Bhoota (Mah) 12-10, 7-11, 13-11, 11-6; Syndrela Das (WB) bt Shreya Dhar (WB) 11-1, 11-8, 12-10.