North Zone TT: Top seeds have it easy

New Delhi, Nov 28 (IANS) Top seed Soumyadeep Roy and teenager Harmeet Desai sailed into the men’s singles quarter−finals at the North Zone National Ranking Table Tennis Championships at the Thyagaraj Stadium here Wednesday.

Roy of Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) got the better of Haryana’s Mohit Verma 13−11, 11−7, 9−11, 11−8, 12−10 for a place in the last eight.

Another PSPB paddler, Desai defeated Anirban Nandi of Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) 11−2, 8−11, 11−9, 11−8, 13−11. It was an impressive performance by the 19−year−old, who is expected to take Indian table tennis forward with Olympian Soumyajit Ghosh.

Ghosh, 19, has skipped the event to continue his training in Sweden. The other big names not playing in the tournament are Sharath Kamal and reigning national champion Anthony Amalraj.

In the women’s singles, top seed Poulomi Ghatak of PSPB eat North Bengal’s Oishwaryya Deb 11−5, 11−7, 11−9, 7−11, 12−10 in the opening round.

Results: (Men’s singles pre−quarterfinals): Soumyadeep Roy (PSPB) Bt Mohit Verma (HRN) 4−1 (13−11, 11−7, 9−11, 11−8, 12−10), Sathiyan G (PSPB) Bt Sougata Sarkar (LIC) 4−1 (12−10, 13−15, 11−5, 13−11, 11−5), Martand Biniwale (MHR) Bt Abhishek Yadav (PSPB A) 4−2 (3−11, 6−11, 11−6, 11−6, 14−12, 11−9), Harmeet Desai (PSPB) Bt Anirban Nandi (RSPB) 4−1 (11−2, 8−11, 11−9, 11−8, 13−11) Jubin Kumar (PSPB) Bt Sivananda Seshadri (TN) 4−1 (11−8, 11−9, 9−11, 11−3, 11−2), Aman Balgu (RSPB) Bt Sourav Charkaborty (PSPB) 4−3 (11−9, 11−13, 11− 4, 9−11, 11−9, 10−12, 11−9, Nithin Thiruvengadam (AAI) Bt Subhajit Saha (PSPB) 4−3 (11−8, 7−11, 11−9, 7−11, 8−11, 12−10, 11−7), Sanil Shetty (PSPB) Bt Sathiswaran L (LIC) 4−3 (11−4, 5−11, 7−11, 4−11, 13−11, 11−7, 11−9)

IANS 2012-11-28 21:02:22