Surat, January 27: Qualifier Akash Pal hunted down second-seed and multiple CWG gold medallist A. Sharath Kamal 4-1 in the men's singles to enter the pre-quarterfinals of the UTT National Ranking Champions Surat, January 27: Qualifier Akash Pal hunted down second-seed and multiple CWG gold medallist A. Sharath Kamal 4-1 in the men's singles to enter the pre-quarterfinals of the UTT National Ranking Championships at the DD Upadhyay Indoor Stadium here today.

But top-seeded G. Sathiyan, though struggling, defeated Chinmaya Somaiya of Maharashtra 4-2 for his pre-quarterfinal berth.

Sharath, arriving this morning, faced H. Jeho first-up in Round 64 after the first-round bye. Jeho held three game points in the third game, but Sharath pulled himself out of the depth to win the opening round 4-2.

But pressure can get to the best. And it happened to Sharath against Akash Pal. After winning the first game 15-13, Sharath's struggle became palpable. It told on him as Akash stopped the legend well shot in the second game, allowing mere five points. Unable to hit a rhythm, Sharath made several unforced errors, making the Railways player's life easy.

Siddhesh Pandey of CRSB downed Anthony Amalraj of PSPB, a former national champion, 4-2 in Round 32 and Jeet Chandra beat Sourav Saha, also from PSPB, 4-2.

Harmeet Desai blanked out LIC's Sougata Sarkar 4-0, Manav Thakkar won 4-2 against Abhimanyu Mitra, and Manush Shah accounted for Aniket Sen Choudhury 4-1 to enter the pre-quarterfinals.

Top-seeds in women's singles, Sreeja Akula and Diya Chitale, beat their respective opponents to move into Round 16. Sreeja defeated Anjali Rohilla of Haryana 4-1, and Diya scored an identical win over Deepika Neelakandan of TNTTA. Earlier in the day, 16th seed Archana Kamath lost in the first round to Munmun Kundu of West Bengal 2-4.

Tough for Lalruatsangha

Meanwhile, H. Lalruatsangha from Delhi overcame stiff resistance from Kushal Chopda of Maharashtra to enter the Youth Boys Under-17 final. After leading 3-1, the Delhi boy faltered, letting Kushal claw his way back to take the fifth and sixth games. But Lalruatsanga won the decisive seventh by minimal points. In contrast, Ankur Bhattacharjee of Bengal disposed of Priyanuj Bhattacharyya of Assam 4-0.  

In the Youth Girls Under-17 semifinals, Suhana Saini of Haryana blanked out Risha Mirchandani of Maharashtra 4-0, while Sayanika Maji of Delhi came from behind to score a 4-2 triumph over Jennifer Varghese, also from Maharashtra.

The boys and girls play their finals later tonight.

Results:

Youth Boys U-17: Semi-finals: H. Lalruatsanga (Del) bt Kushal Chopda (Mah) 11-8, 7-11, 11-7, 12-10, 7-11, 7-11, 11-9.

Youth Girls U-17: Semi-finals: Suhana Saini (Har) bt Risha Mirchandani (Mah) 12-10, 11-7, 11-6, 11-7; Sayanika Maji (Del) bt Jennifer Varghese (Mah) 11-13, 9-11, 11-8, 11-2, 11-2, 11-5.

hips at the DD Upadhyay Indoor Stadium here today.

But top-seeded G. Sathiyan, though struggling, defeated Chinmaya Somaiya of Maharashtra 4-2 for her pre-quarterfinal berth.

Sharath, arriving this morning, faced H. Jeho first-up in Round 64 after the first-round bye. Jeho held three game points in the third game, but Sharath pulled himself out of the depth to win the opening round 4-2.

But pressure can get to the best. And it happened to Sharath against Akash Pal. After winning the first game 15-13, Sharath's struggle became palpable. It told on him as Akash stopped the legend well shot in the second game, allowing mere five points. Unable to hit a rhythm, Sharath made several unforced errors, making the Railways player's life easy.

Siddhesh Pandey of CRSB downed Anthony Amalraj of PSPB, a former national champion, 4-2 in Round 32 and Jeet Chandra beat Sourav Saha, also from PSPB, 4-2.

Harmeet Desai blanked out LIC's Sougata Sarkar 4-0, Manav Thakkar won 4-2 against Abhimanyu Mitra, and Manush Shah accounted for Aniket Sen Choudhury 4-1 to enter the pre-quarterfinals.

Top-seeds in women's singles, Sreeja Akula and Diya Chitale, beat their respective opponents to move into Round 16. Sreeja defeated Anjali Rohilla of Haryana 4-1, and Diya scored an identical win over Deepika Neelakandan of TNTTA. Earlier in the day, 16th seed Archana Kamath lost in the first round to Munmun Kundu of West Bengal 2-4.

Tough for Lalruatsangha

Meanwhile, H. Lalruatsangha from Delhi overcame stiff resistance from Kushal Chopda of Maharashtra to enter the Youth Boys Under-17 final. After leading 3-1, the Delhi boy faltered, letting Kushal claw his way back to take the fifth and sixth games. But Lalruatsanga won the decisive seventh by minimal points. In contrast, Ankur Bhattacharjee of Bengal disposed of Priyanuj Bhattacharyya of Assam 4-0.  

In the Youth Girls Under-17 semifinals, Suhana Saini of Haryana blanked out Risha Mirchandani of Maharashtra 4-0, while Sayanika Maji of Delhi came from behind to score a 4-2 triumph over Jennifer Varghese, also from Maharashtra.

The boys and girls play their finals later tonight.

Results:

Youth Boys U-17: Semi-finals: H. Lalruatsanga (Del) bt Kushal Chopda (Mah) 11-8, 7-11, 11-7, 12-10, 7-11, 7-11, 11-9.

Youth Girls U-17: Semi-finals: Suhana Saini (Har) bt Risha Mirchandani (Mah) 12-10, 11-7, 11-6, 11-7; Sayanika Maji (Del) bt Jennifer Varghese (Mah) 11-13, 9-11, 11-8, 11-2, 11-2, 11-5.