Top seed Manika Batra survived but second seed Mouma Das was not so lucky as the two Rio-bound qualifiers found the going too tough for their liking on the penultimate day of the 11Even Sports National-ranking table tennis tournament here on Wednesday.
On a day when four among the top eight seeds failed to justify their pre-event billings, young Reeth Rishya knocked out five-time National champion Mouma in six games even as Manika twice bounced back from 4-9 deficits to script a six-game victory over Senhora D’Souza in the women’s pre-quarterfinals. Mouma, unusually erratic on this day, pointed to the varying bounce on the tables where she played her two matches.
Earlier in the second round, former National champion Ankita Das, Krittwika Sinha Roy and Divya Deshpande — seeded sixth to eighth — made premature exits. Sutirtha Mukherjee, coming back after serving a two-year ban for violating age-norms, sent Ankita packing 11-7, 11-3, 6-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-6. Shruti Amrute ousted Krittwika 6-11, 13-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6 and Frenaz Chipia tamed Divya 11-8, 11-7, 6-11, 11-7, 11-7. It was also a disappointing day for Soumyadeep Roy and his wife Poulomi Ghatak, both former National champions, who lost their second round matches. Third seed Madhurika Patkar overwhelmed Paulomi 11-3, 11-8, 11-9, 11-13, 11-7. Sougata Sarkar defeated Soumyadeep, the score-line being 11-6, 6-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-8.
The results: Junior boys (final): Manav Thakkar (Pet. Academy) bt Jeet Chandra (WB) 13-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-3, 11-2; Semifinals: Thakkar bt Sarthak Seth (U.P.) 11-6, 11-6, 11-6, 11-2; Chandra bt Manush Shah (Guj) 11-7, 7-11, 11-5, 11-5, 7-11, 11-7; Quarterfinals: Thakkar bt Aniruddh Marathe (Mah ‘A’) 11-8, 11-4, 11-5, 11-7; Seth bt Ishant Hingorank (Guj) 11-3, 8-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-8; Shah bt Yashansh Malik (Del) 11-9, 11-9, 11-13, 5-11, 11-6, 11-5; Chandra bt Shivaji Roy (Jha) 11-7, 11-7, 11-7, 11-7.
Women singles: (pre-quarterfinals): Manika Batra (Pet) bt Senhora D’Souza 9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 6-11, 11-9, 11-3; Chipia Frenaz (AAI) bt M.V. Spoorthy (Kar) 11-7, 11-3, 11-6, 8-11, 5-11, 11-2; K. Shamini bt Ayhika Mukherjee (AAI) 11-7, 14-12, 11-3, 11-5; Pooja Sahasrabuddhe (Pet) bt Pallabi Kundu (RSPB) 9-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-3; Madhurika Patkar (Pet) bt Mousumi Paul (WB) 12-10, 11-9, 11-9, 11-8; Suthirtha Mukherjee (WB) bt Garima Goyal (Del) 11-8, 11-7, 11-2, 11-6; Shruti Amrute (Mah ‘B’) bt Nikhat Banu (TS) 11-9, 11-8, 10-12, 11-7, 12-10; Reeth Rishya (Pet) bt Mouma Das (Pet) 11-4, 9-11, 11-5, 7-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-7.
