Gained entry into the quarter finals
Surat, local stars Manav Thakkar and Filzah Fatema Qadri defeated top seeds Sanil Shetty and Maharashtra’s Retrishya Tennyson in mixed doubles to reach the quarterfinals of the 36th National Games here on Thursday. It was an overall good day for the host paddlers as men’s singles stars Harmeet Desai and Manav Thakkar also started their campaign with comfortable wins in the second round.
In the second round, Thakkar lost four match points in the fourth set but defeated Sarath Mishra of Uttar Pradesh 11-5, 11-6, 11-6, 14-16, 11-6 while Desai defeated Mohammad Ali of Telangana 11-4, 11-5, 11- 6, lost 11-8.
In other men’s singles matches of the day, top seed G Sathian and second seed A Sharath Kamal registered easy wins to advance to the third round.
Although Manav Thakkar and Filzah Fatema Qadri learned the basics of the game at A Sufaiz Academy, they rarely got a chance to play together in the past and the decision to pair them together was also taken in the training camp held before the games.
“Beating a top 6 nationally ranked team is a great feeling. We hope to play with the same energy tomorrow and win a medal,” Qadri said after the match.
The pair will now face West Bengal’s Mouma Das and Anirban Ghosh in the quarterfinals. The combination of Manush Shah and Kritiva Sinha Roy also advanced to the quarter-finals while Harmeet Desai and Franaz Chipia suffered a second-round reverse against West Bengal’s Prappi Sen and Akash Pal.
Important Results (Gujarat Players, Round-2):
Men’s Singles: Harmeet Desai beat Mohammad Ali 11-4, 11-5, 11-6, 11-8; Manav Thakkar beat Sarth Mishra 11-5, 11-6, 11-6, 14-16, 11-6
Women’s singles: Prathanna Parmar lost to Suhana Saini 10-12, 6-11, 3-11, 5-11; Kausha Bhairpur lost to Ananya Basak 7-11, 7-11, 11-6, 11-7, 3-11, 5-11.
Women’s doubles: Kritwika Sinha Roy/Franaz Chipia beat Lakshita Narang/Tamanna Saini 11-0, 11-13,11-7, 11-8; Qadri/Kausha Bhairpure S. Yashini/CR lost to Harshwardhi 9-11, 5-11, 10-12
Mixed doubles: Thakkar/Qadri beat Sanil Shetty/Retrishya Tennyson 11-7, 11-8, 11-7; Manush Shah/Krtwika Sinha Roy beat Jubin Kumar/Riti Shankar 11-1, 11-4, 11-7; Desai/Chipia lost to Akash Pal/Pratti Sen 10-12, 8-11, 5-11.
