Payas Jain from Delhi stunned top seed G. Sathiyan with a dominant straight games victory to secure a spot in the semifinals of the UTT 86th Senior National Table Tennis Championships at the Pandit Dindayal Upadhyay Indoor Stadium today. Divyansh Srivastava, Manush Shah, and second seed Ankur Bhattacharjee joined him in the men’s semifinals.
Payas, in peak form here, overwhelmed Sathiyan, with the latter struggling after the first game. Meanwhile, Divyansh outplayed former national champion Sanil Shetty 4-2 in a close battle. Manush Shah overcame Manav Thakkar 4-2, holding off a late fightback, while Ankur breezed past Sarth Mishra with a 4-0 sweep.
In women’s singles, top seed Sreeja Akula, third seed Yashashwini Ghorpade, and sixth seed Diya Chitale eased into the semifinals. However, qualifier Syndrela Das stole the spotlight with a stunning comeback win against fellow qualifier Krittwika Sinha Roy, showcasing her fearless forehand game.
The tournament saw numerous upsets. In women’s singles, six seeded players, including second seed Swastika Ghosh and third seed Sutirtha Mukherjee, were eliminated in the Round of 32. The men’s draw mirrored this unpredictability, with defending champion Harmeet Desai bowing out in the Round of 32 against Sanil Shetty.
Tamil Nadu’s young duo, Kavyashree Baskar and Yashini Sivashankar shone in women’s doubles, securing wins over seasoned Asian Games bronze medalists. Meanwhile, Maharashtra’s Ananya Chande ousted second seed Swastika Ghosh in straight games.
TN, RBI share Doubles gold
Tamil Nadu’s P.B. Abhinand and Preyesh Raj Suresh clinched gold in the men’s doubles final, defeating West Bengal’s Sourav Saha and Aniket Sen Choudhury 3-1. After securing bronze in the last nationals at Panchkula, the duo showcased exceptional form, dropping only the second game before sealing the title. Earlier, Selenadeepthi and Yashini ended with a bronze medal in the women’s doubles.
RBI’s Sreeja Akula and Diya Chitale staged a brilliant comeback in the women’s doubles final. Despite trailing 0-1, they fought to lead 2-1 and edged out Haryana’s Suhana Saini and Prithoki Chakraborty 3-2. Haryana put up a spirited fight, but the RBI pair dominated the decider to claim gold.
Results:
Men’s Singles: Quarterfinals: Payas Jain (Del) bt G. Sathiyan (PSPB) 11-8, 11-4, 11-5, 11-6, Divyansh Srivastava (UP) bt Sanil Shetty (PSPB) 12-10, 9-11, 10-12, 11-5, 13-11, 11-9, Manush Shah (RBI) bt Manav Thakkar (PSPB) 11-8, 11-7, 11-6, 8-11, 8-11, 11-6, Ankur Bhattacharjee (PSPB) bt Sarth Mishra (UP) 11-5, 11-5, 11-9, 11-6.
Doubles: Final: P.B. Abhinandh/S. Preyesh Raj (TN) bt Sourav Saha/Aniket Sen Choudhury (WB) 12-10, 4-11, 11-6, 11-7.
Semifinals: Abhinandh/Preyesh Raj bt Akash Pal/Ronit Bhanja (RSPB) 12-10, 2-11, 12-10, 14-12; Sourav/Aniket bt Payas Jain/Yashansh Malik (Del) 9-11, 12-10, 11-9, 9-11, 11-6.
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Women’s Singles: Quarterfinals: Sreeja Akula (RBI) bt Madhurika Patkar (PSPB) 11-9, 12-10, 11-9, 11-6, Yashaswini Ghorpade (PSPB) bt Taneesha Kotecha (Mah) 11-5, 8-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-6, Syndrela Das (WB) bt Krittwika Sinha Roy (Guj) 10-12, 5-11, 11-7, 9-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-5, Diya Chitale (RBI) bt Ananya Chande (Mah) 11-4, 11-7, 11-9, 11-1.
Doubles: Final: Sreeja Akula/Diya Chitale (RBI) bt Suhana Saini/Prithoki Chakraborti (Har) 12-14, 11-4, 11-4, 11-13, 11-4.
Semifinals: Suhana/Prithoki bt Selenadeepthi S./Yashin Sivashankar (TN) 11-8, 4-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-8; Sreeja/Diya bt Kaushani Nath/Moumita Dutta (RSPB) 11-4, 11-9, 11-5.
