Pondicherry: Shubh Goel could not have asked for a better outing than the one in the UTT National Ranking Championships (South Zone) at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium here on Wednesday, entering the medal round of the men’s singles for the first time in his career.
En route, he felled 15th seed Arjun Ghosh who had earlier sent No. 2 seed Manav Thakkar packing in the pre-quarterfinals. The 21-year-old Delhi lad had no baggage and reflected in the free-flowing game of his against the attacking Arjun. Except for the second game in which Arjun looked set to stage a comeback, it was Shubh all the way.
But the biggest upset of the day, indeed, was that of top-seeded Sanil Shetty. He lost the left-handers' battle to Gujarat’s Manush Shah, who pushed the match away from his rival in the extended sixth game. The decider proved a mere formality. Equally interesting was the match between fifth-seed Anthony Amalraj and Anirban Ghosh, the 13th seed. Anirban, striking a great form, took the stuffing out of a tiring Amalraj to sail into the semifinals. Harmeet Desai, on the other hand, had no such worries. He disposed of Jeet Chandra 4-1.
Anannya Basak is fast emerging as a great promise with her consistency in recent times. The unseeded girl from Maharashtra yet again put on display a variety of strokes with fine execution to deal a big blow to top-seed Prapti Sen in the pre-quarterfinals. The RSPB girl had no answer to her skills on this day and went down 1-4. Fifth seed Anusha Kutumbale from MP also fell by the wayside in the round of 16. International Ayhika Mukherjee, who had to take the qualification route, showed her class to decimate the MP girl 4-0.
On Tuesday night, unseeded Kowshika Venkatesan had accounted for fourth-seed Sutirtha Mukherjee in a fierce battle. And, today, Kowshika picked up from where she left off to beat Chipia Frenaz 4-3 and march into the quarters. Second-seed Reeth Rishya got stretched fully by Poymantee Baisya of Railways. The runner-up at Dehradun survived a scare, winning the match 4-3 in a tense extended decider, despite missing two match points.
But more damage happened in the men’s singles pre-quarters. Second-seed and title aspirant Manav Thakkar had everything going for him with a 3-1 cushion against 15th seed Arjun Ghosh. At match point in the fifth, Manav goofed and Arjun got an extension of life. Cashing in on that chance, he rode his luck in the next to run away with the match.
Thirteenth seed Ronit Bhanja was no match for top-seed Sanil Shetty, nor was 12th seed Abhishek Yadava to fifth-seed Anthony Amalraj. Though Amalraj took a game more than Sanil to win 4-2, the fifth-seed looked fallible any time. Twelfth-seed Anirban Ghosh sent fourth-seed Sudhanshu Grover packing in an intriguing seven-setter, unseeded Jeet Chandra followed suit with an emphatic 4-1 win over 14th seed Sushmit Sriram. Jeet had, last night, accounted for third-seed Somyajit Ghosh 4-2. And, finally, sixth-seeded Payas Jain failed to pull any punches against in-form Harmeet Desai, the 11th seed. Ninth-seed Manush Shah rolled past SFR Snehit 4-1.
Results:
Men’s Singles: Quarterfinals: Manush Shah (Guj) bt Sanil Shetty (PSPB) 8-11, 11-8, 8-11, 13-11, 7-11, 12-10, 11-7; Anirban Ghosh (RSPB) bt Anthony Amalraj (PSPB) 11-9, 9-11, 5-11, 11-7, 11-6, 2-11, 11-3; Harmeet Desai (Guj) bt Jeet Chandra (AAI) 11-9, 11-13, 11-9, 11-5, 11-7; Shubh Goel (Del) bt Arjun Ghosh (RSPB) 11-7, 13-11, 11-5, 11-6;
Pre-quarterfinals: Sanil Shetty bt Ronit Bhanja (AAI) 11-5, 11-6, 11-7, 5-11, 11-5; Manush Shah bt SFR Snehit (Telg) 11-6, 5-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-9; Anothny Amalraj bt Abhishek Yadav (UP) 11-9, 12-10, 11-6, 7-11, 10-12, 12-10; Anirban Ghosh bt Sudhanshu Grover (Del) 11-9, 11-9, 11-6, 9-11, 7-11, 9-11, 11-3; Jeet Chandra bt Sushmit Sriram (TTTA) 11-8, 9-11, 11-5, 11-5, 14-12; Harmeet Desai bt Payas Jain (Del) 11-8, 12-10, 15-17, 11-9, 11-7; Shubh Goel bt Wesley Do Rosario (Har) 11-9, 13-11, 13-11, 8-11, 11-6; Arjun Ghosh bt Manav Thakkar (PSPB) 11-6, 4-11, 9-11, 5-11, 14-12, 12-10, 11-7.
Women’s Singles: Quarterfinals: Swastika Ghosh (AAI) bt Anannya Basak (Mah) 7-11, 11-8, 10-12, 11-8, 11-4, 11-9; Ayhika Mukherjee (RBI) bt Kowshika Venkatesan (TTTA) 11-9, 11-4, 11-9, 11-8; Diya Chitale (Mah) bt Takeme Sarkar (RSPB) 11-13, 11-7, 11-6, 12-10, 11-5; Sreeja Akula (RBI) bt Reeth Rishya (PSPB) 11-5, 11-6, 11-9, 9-11, 10-12, 11-7.
Pre-quarterfinals: Anannya Basak bt Prapti Sen (RSPB) 7-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-9, 11-9; Swastika Ghosh bt Yashaswini Gorphade (Kar) 8-11, 6-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-3, 12-10; Ayhika Mukherjee bt Anusha Kutumbale (MP) 11-6, 11-4, 11-7, 11-4; Kowshika Venkatesan (TTTA) bt Chipia Frenaz (Guj) 11-2, 11-2, 11-9, 9-11, 11-5; Takeme Sarkar bt Krittwika Sinha Roy (Guj) 13-15, 11-4, 6-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-7, 11-8; Diya Chitale bt Radhapriya Goel (AAI) 7-11, 11-8, 11-7, 5-11, 11-7, 11-7, Sreeja Akula bt Moumita Dutta (RSPB) 12-10, 11-7, 11-1, 11-4; Reeth Rishya bt Poymantee Baisya (RSPB) 11-7, 9-11, 3-11, 11-6, 11-7, 9-11, 14-12.
