New Delhi: Promising Yashansh Malik had to muster courage and draw inspiration from his experience to overcome a stiff resistance from Hardik Khurana and enter the semifinals of the Junior Boys singles in the Ping Pong Delhi State Table Tennis Ranking Tournament at the Thyagaraj Stadium here today.

Yashansh defeated Hardik 10-12, 5-11, 11-6. 12-10, 11-8, 11-8 and would take on Shreyansh Goel in tomorrow’s semifinals. Goel defeted Sanyam Mahajan 7-11, 11-7, 11-8, 14-12, 11-6 in another hard-fought quarterfinal.

Shivjit Singh Lamba, already a known name in the local circuit, downed another big name, Payas Jain, who finished a runner-up in last year’s Sub-Junior and Cadet Finals at Kolkata. Shivjit won 15-13, 11-3, 11-9, 5-11, 11-5 to earn a semifinal meeting with Parth Virmani, who accounted for Ayush Kapoor 11-6, 11-5, 5-11, 11-2, 11-4.

The semifinal line-ups in the junior section should keep not only the boys interested but also the schools they represent and the audience alike.

Yashansh was trailing by two games with Hardik giving harrowing time to his opponent. Brushing aside the two-game loss Yashansh came back with assertion to first level and then keeping the momentum going in his way, despite getting drained out in the fourth game which went into deuces.

Payas gave a good fight to senior pro Shivjit, particularly in the first game which saw fortunes switching hands as often as the mistakes both committed. Finally, on his fourth match point Shivjit won to give him confidence for the next couple of games as Shivjit led 3-0. Payas did well to pull one back but then it was too late in the day for him to make any realistic recovery.

Goel did struggle a bit against Mahajan but it was more or less a cakewalk for Parth, the experienced hand in the other semifinals.

In comparison, it was a one-sided affair for the girls in the quarterfinals as Yadur Mahendroo, Kaisha Mohan, Vanshika Mudgal and Kartikey Joshi all won 3-1 against their opponents to seal their semifinal spots.

In Cadet Girls quarterfinals, except for Tanzia Sharma who dropped a game against Ayesha Aggarwal, the three others—Lakshita Narang downed Yashika Sharma 11-9, 11-6, 11-4, Manika Kesar beat Sonal Jain 11-4, 11-3, 11-7 and S. Gayatri won over Sumiti Malhotra 11-7, 16-14, 11-6. Tanzia, despite starting well, was made to work hard for her 11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 11-6 triumph.