Defending champion Poymantee Baisha faced a shock exit from the women’s singles at the 86th Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships in Surat on Friday (January 24).

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West Bengal’s Nandini Saha upset eighth seed Poymantee of Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) 3-2 (6-11, 11-8, 3-11, 12-10, 11-6) in the Round of 64.

Nandini’s comeback

Poymantee was leading 2-1 but Nandini staged a remarkable comeback to take the fourth game 12-10, and later sealed the match with an 11-6 scoreline in the fifth and deciding game.

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The top seeds in the women’s singles had received first-round byes and faced played in the Round of 64.

Top seed Sreeja Akula survived a scare from Gujarat’s Pratha Pawar to win 3-2 (11-6, 10-12, 7-11, 12-10, 12-10). Trailing 1-2, Sreeja rallied to take the fourth game 12-10 and sealed the decider with the same score at the Pandit Dindayal Upadhyay Indoor Stadium.

Fifth seed Taneesha Kotecha was also stretched before beating Railways’ Sagarika Mukherjee 3-2 in a fiercely contested encounter.

Abhinand exits

In the men’s singles, 15 of the 16 seeded players progressed to the Round of 32 but 13th seed P B Abhinand of Tamil Nadu exited.

Abhinand, playing without his coach, fell to Arjav Gupta of Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) Academy 1-3. Abhinand struggled to find his rhythm after squandering two game points in the opener. Although he showed glimpses of a fightback with a dominant third game, Arjav held his nerve to triumph 13-11, 11-8, 5-11, 11-9.

Second seed Ankur Bhattacharjee endured a nail-biter against Assam’s Priyanuj Bhattacharyya, scraping through with a 3-2 victory. The decider was a rollercoaster, with the players tied 5-5 before Ankur surged to a 10-5 lead. Priyanuj launched a late rally, forcing Ankur to take a timeout at 10-7. The brief pause worked in Ankur’s favour, as he regrouped to close the match and secure a spot in the next round.

Sathiyan, Harmeet advance

The clash between 16th seed Jeet Chandra of Railways and Telangana’s Mohammad Ali kept spectators on edge. Jeet narrowly escaped a potential upset, emerging victorious in a hard-fought 3-2 encounter.

Delhi’s 12th seed Yashansh Malik had a shaky start against Gujarat’s Ayaz Murad, with the local paddler pushing him hard in the first two games. Yashansh regained control in the third and eventually wrapped up the match 3-1.

Mizoram’s H Jeho showcased resilience against Haryana’s Sarthak Gandhi. After trailing 1-2, Jeho mounted a comeback and edged out Sarthak in a tense decider, winning 11-9 to seal a 3-2 victory.

G Sathiyan, the men’s top seed also advanced to the Round of 32. Joining him was his teammate and local hero Harmeet Desai.

Important results

Men’s singles: Second round: (1) G. Sathiyan (PSPB) beat Chinmaya Somaiya (Maharashtra) 11-7, 9-11, 11-5, 11-9; Agniv Bhaskar Gohain (Assam) beat Sougata Sarkar (LIC) 6-11, 11-8, 3-11, 11-8, 11-6; (16) Jeet Chandra (RSPB) beat Mohammed Ali (Telangana) 11-2, 9-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-5; (9) A Amalraj (PSPB) beat Rounak Mazumder (Bengal) 8-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-5; Abhimanyu Mitra (Indian Audit & Accounts Department (IA&AD)) beat Kushal Chopda (Maharashtra) 11-9, 11-9, 9-11, 11-13, 11-5; S. Karthikeyan (Tamil Nadu) beat Shankhadip Das (Bengal) 7-11, 13-11, 11-8, 6-11, 12-10; H Jeho (Mizoram) beat Sarthak Gandhi (Haryana) 8-11, 11-4, 4-11, 11-6, 11-9; Bodhisatwa Chaudhary (Bengal) bt Rohith Shankar (Karnataka) 11-6, 7-11, 10-12, 11-6, 11-8; Siddhesh Pande (Maharashtra) beat S Preyesh Raj (TN) 12-14, 11-2, 11-3, 11-7; (2) Ankur Bhattacharjee (PSPB) beat Priyanuj Bhattacharyya (Assam) 11-9, 9-11, 11-8, 6-11; 11-7.