Chandigarh: The 51st Institutional Table Tennis Championships at Panjab University’s Gymnasium Hall saw unexpected twists as several top seeds were ousted, including men’s top seed Harmeet Desai and women’s fourth seed Sutirtha Mukherjee. Despite their defeats, teenage challengers like Kushal Chopda and Vanshika Mudgal made a strong impression, while other notable seeded players such as Ayhika Mukherjee, Payas Jain, and Jeet Chandra also saw their title hopes dashed.
In the pre-quarterfinals, most matches were won by the expected contenders, but a few went the distance. One of the standout results came from Swastika Ghosh of AAI, who delivered a stunning upset, eliminating second seed Ayhika. Swastika claimed a dramatic 13-11 win in the decider, sealing the match with exceptional composure. Meanwhile, Shriya Aanand of Tamil Nadu made a remarkable comeback, recovering from a 0-2 deficit to defeat Maria Rony of Canara Bank 3-2 in a thrilling encounter, securing her place in the quarterfinals.
The shock exits of the top seeds turned the tournament on its head. Harmeet Desai, widely expected to claim the singles title, suffered a stunning defeat at the hands of 17-year-old Kushal Chopda in the Round of 32. Despite levelling the match after going 1-2 down, Harmeet made a series of unforced errors in the final game, allowing the young Maharashtra player to close out the match with a 7-11, 11-7, 11-7, 7-11, 11-6 scoreline. The result raised eyebrows, as Harmeet had no answer to Chopda’s aggressive play, ultimately succumbing to the pressure.
Sutirtha, also a pre-tournament favourite, was defeated by the up-and-coming Vanshika Mudgal of FCI. The match was a tough one for Sutirtha, as she dropped a marathon first game 16-18, which set the tone for the rest of the encounter. Although she managed to pull one game back after trailing 0-2, Vanshika proved too strong and finished the match 3-1, advancing to the pre-quarters. But she eventually lost.
In other matches, RBI star Sreeja Akula had to fight hard to stay in the tournament. After saving two match points against former national champion Madhurika Patkar, she powered through to defeat Kaushani Nath in the pre-quarterfinals. On the men’s side, Payas Jain, after leading 2-0, faltered under the pressure from Akash Pal, especially when the former should have won the third game. Payas couldn’t convert critical points in the fifth game and was ultimately beaten by Pal, who kept his composure under pressure, securing a 3-2 win and advancing to the quarterfinals.
Results:
Men’s Singles: Pre-quarterfinals: Sourav Saha (PSPB) bt Kushal Chopda (Mah) 3-0; Akash pal (RSPB) bt Payas Jain (Del) 3-2; Raj Mondal (RBI) bt Jeet Chandra (RSPB) 3-0; Manav Thakkar (PSPB) bt Jash Modi (Mah) 3-0; Manush Shah (RBI) bt Anthony Amalraj (PSPB) 3-1; SFR Snehit (IA&AD) bt Ronit Bhanja (RSPB) 3-2; Anirban Ghosh (RSPB) t Sudhanshu Grover (Del) 3-2; G.Sathiyan (PSPB) bt P.B. Abhinand (TN) 3-1.
Round of 32: Kushal bt Harmeet Desai (PSPB) 3-2; Sourav bt Abhishek Yadav (BOI) 3-0; Akash bt Abhimanyu Mitra (IA&AD) 3-0; Payas bt Raegan Albuquerque (AAI) 3-1; Jeet w/o bt Sujal Banik (WB) 3-0; Raj bt Yashansh Malik (AAI) 3-2; Jash bt Aniket Choudhury (WB) 3-0; Manav bt Siddesh Pande (CRSB) 3-0; Manush bt Wesley Do Rosario (Har) 3-0; Anthony bt Aadarsh Om Chetri (Del) 3-0; Snehit bt KJ Akash (AAI) 3-0; Ronit bt Shankadip Das (WB) 3-0; Anirban bt Sarth Mishra (UP) 3-1; Sudhanshu bt Deepit Patil (AAI) 3-1; P.B. Abhinand bt Punit Biswas (CB) 3-1; G. Sathiyana bt H. Jeho 3-0.
Women’s Singles: Pre-quarterfinals: Sreeja Akula (RBI) bt Kaushani Nath (RSPB) 3-0; Yashaswini Ghorpade (PSPB) bt Pelf (Chd) 3-0; Diya Chitale (RBI) 3-0; Reeth Rishya (PSPB) bt Vanshika Mudgal (FCI) 3-0; Taneesha Kotecha (Mah) bt Poymantee Baisya (RSPB) 3-1; Krittwika Sinha Roy (PSPB) bt Selena Deepti Selvakumar (CRSB) 3-1; Shriya Anand (TN) bt Maria Rony (CB) 3-2; Swastika Ghosh (AAI) bt Ayhika Mukherjee (RBI) 3-2.
Round of 32: Sreeja bt Madhurika Patkar (PSPB) 3-2; Kaushani bt Kavyashree Baskar (TN) 3-1; Pelf bt Yashini Sivashankar (IA&AD) 3-2; Yashaswini bt Lakshita Narang (AAI) 3-0; Diya bt Kushi Viswanath (IA&AD) 3-1; Avisha bt Jennifer Varghese (Mah) 3-2;Reeth bt Mouma Dasa (PSPB) 3-1; Vanshika bt Sutirtha Mukherjee (RSPB) 3-1; Poymantee bt Varuni Jaiswal (Telg) 3-0; Taneesha bt Radhapriya Goel (AAI) 3-0; Selena bt Nikhat Banu (RBI) 3-1; Krittwika bt Pritha Vartikar (PSPB) 3-1; Shriya bt Sayali Wani (PSPB) 3-1; Maria Rony bt Anusha Kutumbale (RSPB) 3-2; Swastika bt Manushree Patil (Mah) 3-0; Ayhika abt Munmun Kundu (RSPB) 3-0.
