Chennai: Of the four Maharashtra paddlers that entered the knockout fray, three survived the Girls’ singles quarterfinal heat and moved into the Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG) semifinals at the Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University facilities today.
The lone Tamil Nadu paddler, Kavyashree Bhaskar, bowed out of the medal reckoning when she went down 1-3 to Risha Mirchandani of Maharashtra. Kavyashree, who won all three league games in Group A and was seeded No. 1 in the second stage, did not have a bright start in the quarterfinals in the morning. Though she managed to pull a game back in the second, Risha played superbly and utilised the chances offered by Kavyashree to romp home comfortably.
However, P.B. Abhinand of Tamil Nadu kept the hosts’ hope alive when he won all three league matches to take the top perch in Group C. He had a tough time against H. Lalruatsanga of Mizoram and was down 1-2. But the TN lad fought back well to level and decimated his opponent in the decisive fifth game to keep his record clean. But two TN boys, Preyesh Raj Suresh and Tharun Shanmuguam, failed to get past the league phase without much fight.
In the other Girls’ quarterfinals, Taneesha Kotecha was not that lucky. The Maharashtra girl opened well, but Nandini Saha of West Bengal prevailed over her, including winning two extended games after the deuce. Drawn against third seed Suhana Saini, Pritha Vartikar of Maharashtra overcame a 1-2 deficit and beat the Haryana girl 3-2. Suhana failed to make the most of the situation and failed miserably in the last two games. After equalling the score, Pritha upped the ante and cashed in on Suhana’s unforced errors to reach the semifinals.
Second-seeded Sayali Wani, on the other hand, faced no threat at all from Subhankrita Datta of West Bengal and came off the court after accomplishing the job in mere 23 minutes. Sayali won 3-0. The winners play their semi-finals tomorrow.
Results:
Girls’ Singles (Quarterfinals): Risha Mirchandani (Mah) bt Kavyashree Baskar (TN) 11-9, 5-11, 11-5, 11-5; Nandini Saha (WB) bt Taneesha Kotecha (Mah) 7-11, 11-8, 12-10, 12-10; Pritha Vartikar (Mah) bt Suhana Saini (Har) 12-10, 6-11, 10-12, 11-3, 11-6; Sayali Wani (Mah) bt Subhankrita Datta (WB) 11-8, 11-3, 11-8.
Boys’ Singles (Round 2 & 3):
Group A: Ankur Bhattacharjee (WB) bt Preyesh Raj Suresh (TN) 3-0; Priyanuj Bhattacharyya (Asm) bt Preyesh (TN) 3-2.
Group B: Bodhisatwa Chaudhury (WB) bt Divyansh Srivastava (UP) 3-1, P. Yeshwant (Mar) bt Tharun Shanmugam (TN) 3-2; Bodhisatwa (WB) bt Tharun (TN) 3-0, Divyansh (UP) bt P. Yeshwant (Kar) 3-1.
Group C: P.B. Abhinand (TN) bt K.J. Aakash (Kar) 3-0, H. Lalruatsanga (Miz) bt Promise Das (Trp) 3-0; K.J. Aakash (Kar) bt Promise Das (Trp) 3-0, P.B. Abhinand (TN) bt H. Lalruatsanga (Miz) 3-2.
Group D: Jash Modi (Mah) bt Sarth Mishra (UP) 3-0, M. Balamurugan (TN) bt Ayan Ghosh (WB) 3-2); Jash (Mah) bt M. Balamurugan (TN) 3-1, Sarth (UP) bt Ayan (WB) 3-0.
