Surat, Sept 22: No. 1 and No. 2 seeds from Tamil Nadu, G. Sathiyan and A. Sharath Kamal, toyed with their respective opponents scoring an identical 4-0 wins to move into the pre-quarterfinals of the men’s singles in the 36th National Games at the Pt. Deendayal Upadhyaya Indoor Stadium here today.

But third-seed Sanil Shetty from Maharashtra had to endure UP’s Divyansh Srivastava in his Round of 32 matches, eventually joining the top seeds in the Round of 16 with a 4-3 win. Similarly, former national champion and seventh seed Soumyajit Ghosh warded off an imminent threat of elimination from Raegan Albuquerque of Maharashtra to enter the pre-quarters, winning 4-3.

Sanil, leading 3-2, and 7-5 in the sixth game, allowed Divyansh to come back and take the game to level 3-3. However, the Maharashtra left-hander, was in a lot of trouble as he trailed 0-4 in the decider. But the former national champion showed his aggressive style to relaunch himself into the match and beat the UP boy with a minimal point.  

Ghosh, leading 2-1, let an opening for Raegan in the next two games and went 3-2 up, challenging the Haryana paddler’s existence. But the past master had some tricks up his sleeve to level the score and, despite trailing 3-6 in the decider and dropping a match point, won in the second to advance.

Manika, the women’s top seed, spent as little time as possible on the show court before disposing of G. Pranitha of Telangana 4-0. But sixth-seed Prapti Sen went down 2-4 to Haryana’s Suhana Saini, a lone upset that hardly raised a stir. All other seeds moved into the next round easily.

Important Results (Round 32):

Men’s Singles: G. Sathiyan (TN) bt Wesely Do Rossaraio (Har) 13-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-5; Manav Thakkar (Guj) Sarth Mishra (UP) 11-5, 11-6, 11-6, 12-14, 11-6; Anirban Ghosh (WB) bt Ishaan Hingorani (Guj) 11-8, 5-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-3; Harmeet Desai (Guj) bt Mohammed Ali (Telg) 11-4, 11-5, 11-6, 11-8; Sanil Shetty (Mah) bt Divyansh Srivastava (UP) 11-6, 7-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-9, 7-11, 11-9; Manush Sha (Guj) bt K.J. Akash (Kar) 11-5, 11-8, 11-2, 11-4; Soumyajit Ghosh bt Raegan Albuquerque (Mah) 11-5, 4-11, 11-2, 10-12, 11-13, 11-7, 11-9, Sharath Kamal (TN) bt Ravindra Kotiyan (Mah) 11-9, 11-6, 11-6, 17-15.

Women’s Singles: Manika Batra (Del) bt G. Pranitha (Telg) 11-5, 11-8, 11-6, 11-8, Takeme Sarkar (WB) bt Nikhat Banu (Telg) 9-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-9, 14-12; Anusha Kutumbale (MP) Riti Shankar (Har) 11-5, 11-6, 11-7, 11-9; Reeth Rishya (Mah) bt CR Harshavardhini (TN) 13-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-2; 11-3, Diya Chitale bt Trisha Paul (Har) 11-3, 11-6, 11-4, 12-10; Suhana Saini (Har) bt Prapti Sen (WB) 13-15, 11-7, 13-11, 11-6, 8-11, 14-12; Swastika Ghosh (Mah) bt V. Kowshika (TN)11-8, 11-7, 11-5, 11-6; Sreeja Akula (Telg) bt Anannya Basak (Mah) 13-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-8.