Sathiyan crashes out in quarters

 Top seeds in both men's and women's singles events were knocked out on the penultimate day of the 45th All-India Institutional Table Tennis Championship at Thyagaraja Sports Complex here on Saturday.

It all started with top women's seed Mouma Das bowing out in her first round match against RBI's Shweta Parte in five games. Second seed and last year's runner-up Pooja Sahasrabuddhe was also knocked out in the first round by Railway Sports Promotion Board player Rupsa Bhattacharya in a match that went down to the deciding seventh game.

Ankita Das managed to reach the semifinals, avenging her loss earlier in the tournament in the women's team finals to RBI's Krittwika Sinha Roy 9-11, 11-6, 11-7, 6-11, 11-4, 8-11, 11-2. Das' team-mate from PSPB, Manika Batra also reached the last four beating AAI's Banu Nikhat 10-12, 11-5, 11-5, 9-11, 11-7, 11-7.

Eighth seed Madhurika Patkar and unseeded Kumaresan Shamini were the others to reach the semifinals.

In the men's singles, top seed and defending champion G Sathiyan went down to former champion Amalraj Anthony. In a game of fluctuating fortunes, Anthony stepped up his play during the fifth and sixth games, rallying hard and inducing mistakes from Sathiyan to win 7-11, 13-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-7

Second seed Soumyajit Ghosh displayed a near flawless game during the round of 16, easing past Sourav Saha 11-4, 11-5, 11-5,11-5.

In what was possibly the match of the day, Harmeet Desai prevailed over young Anirban Ghosh 5-11, 12-10, 7-11, 11-9, 11-8, 5-11, 11-5. Ghosh's aggressive game was evident from the start as he went for the winners at the slightest possible instance. But Desai's composure and experience at key moments proved to be the difference in the end.

In the mixed doubles final Manika Batra and Sanil Shetty Shankar beat Neha Aggarwal and Zubin Kumar 11-4, 11-9, 11-8 to win the title.

Results: Men’s singles: Quarterfinals: Anthony Amalraj (PSPB) bt G Sathiyan (PSPB) 4-2 (7-11, 13-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-7), Harmeet Desai (PSPB) bt Anirban Ghosh (WB) 4-3 (5-11, 12-10, 7-11, 11-9, 11-8, 5-11, 11-5), Sanil Shetty Shankar (PSPB) bt Devesh Karia (CRSB) 4-2 (11-7, 7-11, 6-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-3, 12-10), Soumyajit Ghosh (PSPB) bt Sudhanshu Grover (PSPB) 4-1 (5-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-5, 11-8).

Women’s singles: Quarterfinals: Madhurika Patkar (PSPB) bt Shreya Ghosh (RSPB) 4-1 (11-9, 11-5, 7-11, 11-2, 11-4), Manika Batra (PSPB) bt Nikhat Banu (AAI) 4-2 (10-12, 11-5, 11-5, 9-11, 11-7, 11-7), Ankita Das (PSPB) bt Krittwika Sinha Roy (RBI) 4-3 (9-11, 11-6, 11-7, 6-11, 11-4, 8-11, 11-2), K Shamini (PSPB) bt Amrutha Pushpak (AAI) 4-2 (11-7, 9-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-4).

Mixed doubles: Final: Manika Batra and Sanil Shetty Shankar bt Neha Aggarwal and Zubin Kumar (11-4, 11-9, 11-8).