Hyderabad, February 1: There were some similarities to Soumyajit Ghosh and Ankita Das, both trying to find their feet in the mainstream of table tennis after a hiatus. 

Both had qualified for the 2012 London Games and both are from Siliguri. Other than that, what endeared then was that the two former stars found themselves in the thick of action with all eyes fixed on them. They did not disappoint as they reached the semifinals of the men’s and women’s singles of the UTT 81st National Table Tennis Championships at the Saroonagar Indoor Stadium here today.

Ghosh accounted for No. 2 seed A. Sharath Kamal 4-2 and will take on Harmeet Desai while Ankita took a set more to beat Anusha Kutumbale 4-3, to earn a meeting with last year’s runner-up Krittwika Sinha Roy tomorrow.

Sharath or, for that matter, Anusha were not the ones whose capabilities were challenged on a day of upsets as the top-seed G. Sathiyan got more than a couple of scares en route to the semis even as Manav Thakkar, the fourth seed, dropped a game to less threatening Sarthak Gandhi.

But Ghosh emerged as the hero as did Ankita on the evening. Ghosh had a good measure of Sharath, leading 3-0 before letting the nine-time champion make a comeback which could have been dangerous as the No. 2 seed had narrowed down the gap to 2-3. But the Haryana paddler cut down all frills and, assessing the situation nicely, pulled it off in the end. The last time that Ghosh beat Sharath was when the two met in the Olympics qualifiers in 2016. But Sharath had beaten him both in the Institutional event at New Delhi and the Nationals at Manesar 2017.

Top-seeded Sutirtha Mukherjee justified her seeding and scored a come-from-behind victory against Railways Kaushani Nath. Nobody, except perhaps Sutirtha, would have given her a grain of chance after she was in a precarious position as Kaushani led 3-0. But in the last four sets, the Haryana played liked the possessed to beat the stuffing out of young Kaushani, showing how mentally she had become, of late. Kaushani didn’t have a clue to what had hit her as she kept on erring and Sutirtha seized the opportunities that came her way.

But what surprised everyone was the match between Ankita Das and young Anusha Kutumbale. The Siliguri woman played and missed a few until the fifth game with Anusha leading 3-2. But an excellent launch after deuce saw the unseeded paddler hold on to the second game point to level the score. From there, it was a different Ankita as she packed off the seventh seed with a lot to spare.  

Ayhika Mukhrjee, the fourth seed, disposed of Mousumi Paul after dropping the opening set, while third-seed Krittiwika Sinha Roy led 3-0 before losing the next two games. However, in the sixth she held on her nerves to advance. 

But Sathiyan and sixth-seed Harmeet Desai had to play out of their skins to overcome their tough opponents in Manush Shah of Gujarat and Akash Pal from Bengal, respectively, after the Team India players were taken the full distance in the pre-quarterfinals. In between, there were a few promising players who, too, bit the dust with little fight.

The threat for Sathiyan, perhaps the first in recent times, came from left-handed Manush Shah who, leading 3-1, looked causing the biggest upset of the championships. Yet, Sathiyan’s experience and Manush unable to keep the ball on the table put paid to the latter’s ambitions. 

Results:

Men Singles: Quarterfinals: G. Sathiyan (PSPB) bt Ronit Bhanja (Beng A) 11-6, 9-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-9, Manav Thakkar (PSPB) bt Sarthak Gandhi (TTFI) 11-7, 11-6, 8-11, 11-6, 11-8, Harmeet Desai (PSPB) bt Sanil Shetty (PSPB) 12-10, 11-5, 11-6, 11-8, Souymajit Ghosh (Har) bt Sharath Kamal 12-10, 11-8, 11-7, 9-11, 7-11, 11-7.

Pre-quarterfinals: G. Sathiyan bt Manush Shah (Guj) 10-12, 11-7, 9-11, 6-11, 11-7, 11-3, 11-7, Ronit Bhanja bt Sourav Saha (Har) 8-11, 12-10, 11-9, 6-11, 11-5, 7-11, 11-8, Sarthak Gandhi bt Sushmit Srirram (AAI) 11-8, 7-11, 11-9, 11-9, 9-11, 9-11, 11-9, Manav Thakkar  bt Jubin Kumar (Har) 11-9, 11-8, 11-7, 8-11, 11-7, Sanil Shetty bt Jeet Chandra (Har) 11-2, 12-10, 11-5, 4-11, 11-6, Harmeet Desai  bt Akash Pal (beng A) 11-4, 11-7, 8-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-13, 11-8, Soumyajit Ghosh bt Sudhanshu Grover (Del) 11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7, 5-11, 12-10, A. Sharath Kamal (SPB) bt Arjun Ghosh (Beng A) 11-4, 11-9, 11-9, 8-11, 11-2.

Women Singles: Quarterfinals: Sutirtha Mukehree (Har) bt Kaushini Nath (Rlys) 8-11, 9-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-4, 11-9, Ayhika Mukherjee (RBI) bt Mousumi Paul (Beng A) 7-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-9, 11-3, Krittwika Sinha Roy (PSPB) bt Pooja Sahasrabudhe (PSPB) 11-6, 11-8, 11-5, 11-13, 4-11, 11-7, Ankita Das (Beng B) bt Anusha Kutumbale (PSPB) 9-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-2, 6-11, 13-11, 11-5. 

Pre-quarterfinals: Sutirtha Mukherjee bt Madhurika Patkar (PSPB) 12-10, 11-9, 11-9, 12-10, Kaushani Nath bt Surbhi Patwari (Beng A) 7-11, 11-9, 8-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-9, Mousumi Paul bt Anindita Chakraborty (Rlys) 15-13, 9-11, 11-6, 12-14, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6, Ayhika Mukherjee bt Sagarika Mukherjee (Rlys) 1-6, 11-5, 11-9, 16-14, Krittiwika Sinha Roy bt Varuni Jaiswal (Telg) 11-9, 11-6, 11-3, 11-6,  Pooja Sahasrabudhe  bt Prapti Sen (Beng A) 4-11, 11-13, 12-10, 12-10, 11-8, 11-8, Anusha Kutumbale bt Takeme Sarkar (Rlys) 11-6, 11-9, 11-4, 11-2.