Manav Thakkar failed to cash in on two match-points in the sixth game and close out the match and then in the decider, he did well to save five match-points, but his efforts went in vain as his rival Arjun Ghosh of West Bengal pulled through 4-3 to march into the men’s singles semi-final of the 11Even Sports National Ranking (Central Zone) Table Tennis Championships at Abhay Prashad Indoor Stadium, here, on Wednesday.
Sreeja Akula about to serve to Mousumi Paul in her quarterfinal match today.
In the penultimate round, Arjun will now take on Raj Mondal, who beat Subhajit Saha 4-1, while top-seed G. Sathiyan defeted Sourav Saha 4-2 when the latter conceded due to a shoulder injury. Sathiyan was leading 6-1 and will clash with Harmeet Desai, who outsmarted Sougata Sarkar of LIC 4-2.
Meanwhile, Sreeja Akula from Telangana, proved to be a giant killer after she had scalped Manika Batra earlier in the day in women singles. She later accounted for fifth seed Mousumi Paul, this time winning in straight games at 11-9, 11-5, 13-11, 11-7 to enter the quarter-finals.
In the men’s singles action, Manav was on the cusp of beating his West Bengal rival in the sixth game. But credit must go to Arjun for the way he pushed Manav and forced him into unforced errors to get a lease of life.
Even after ensuring that there was no respite from the PSPB’s Manav who surged ahead with a 3-1 lead. However, Arjun pulled himself back into the game, first levelling the score and then going great guns with a lead of 7-4 and then 10-6. After deuce, he had one match point but Arjun converted the sixth to romp home winner
Quarter-final Results – Men singles: 1- G. Sathiyan (PSPB) bt Sourav Saha (PSPB) 12-10, 8-11, 11-6, 11-5, 8-11, 6-1 conceded; 4-Harmeet Desai (PSPB) bt Sougata Sarkar (LIC) 11-5, 8-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-7; Raj Mondal (RBI) bt 6-Subhajit Saha (PSPB) 11-8, 11-7, 11-6, 6-11, 11-9; Arjun Ghosh (WB) bt 7-Manav Thakkar (PSPB) 6-11, 11-6, 11-5, 4-11, 8-11, 14-12, 14-12.
Women singles: 1-Madhurika Patkar (PSPB) bt Ayhika Mukherjee (TTFI) 3-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-2, 11-9; Sreeja Akula (TEL) bt 5-Mousumi Paul (PSPB) 11-9, 11-5, 13-11, 11-7; Takeme Sarkar (PSPB) bt Pooja Sahasrabudhe (PSPB) 11-8, 11-9, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9; 2-Sutirtha Mukherjee (WB) bt Divya Deshpande (PSPB) 11-5, 18-16, 12-10, 7-11, 7-11, 11-8.