Maharashtra’s grip on the women’s events extended seamlessly into the individual arena, and their 45 plus singles quarterfinals only reinforced that narrative in the 32nd National Masters Table Tennis Championships at the Balewadi Indoor Stadium today. Even as challengers from across the country tried to break through, the home state ensured a commanding presence deep into the draw.
Two Maharashtra paddlers powered their way into the semifinals, joining equally determined opponents from Gujarat and Karnataka, making it a well-contested final while still guaranteeing the hosts a strong medal return.
In the quarterfinals, Shital Shah of Gujarat displayed clinical precision to dispatch Sarika Varade of Maharashtra in straight games. Karnataka’s Anjana Rao was equally dominant, brushing aside Shama Patni Adhikari with ease. The closest battles, however, featured Maharashtra’s resilience—Sadiya Vanjara recovered from a first-game setback to defeat Delhi’s Priti Vats 3-1, while Shruti Kanade Joshi held her nerve in a tense four-game duel against compatriot Radhika Dorle.
If the women’s draw highlighted Maharashtra’s consistency, the Men’s 40+ singles Round of 64 delivered sheer competitive drama, with several matches going the distance. Several players booked their spots in the Round of 32 through gritty 3-2victories, underlining the depth in this veteran category.
Among the standout performers, Telangana’s Raja Sureddy edged past Goa’s Sandeep D’Mello in a nail-biting five-game encounter. Delhi’s Sumit Nagpal showed composure under pressure to overcome Haryana’s Vinay Yadav 3-2, while his teammate Evgeni Saposnikov also survived a tough test against Maharashtra’s Suraj Narayan by the same margin.
Another intense clash saw Rakesh Kumar of IA&AD outlast Delhi’s Abhilash Thomas 3-2. Madhya Pradesh’s Kunal Gajbhiye battled past Maharashtra’s Narendra Sannabharti in five games, while Telangana’s Mohd. Farooqui eked out a hard-fought win over Karnataka’s Pranav Verma, again in a full-distance match.
Elsewhere, several players advanced more comfortably, but it was these marathon encounters that defined the round, setting up a fiercely contested Round of 32.
Wrapping up the day’s action, the scheduling now shifts focus to the decisive stages across categories. The women in the 40+, 50+, and 55+ divisions do not have singles matches today, but will return to the tables tomorrow for their quarterfinal clashes.
Among the men, the 40+ and 45+ categories began with the Round of 64 and will conclude the penultimate day with the Round of 32. Meanwhile, the 50+ and 55+ competitors started directly from the Round of 32. For all categories, the final day promises a packed schedule—beginning with the pre-quarterfinals and culminating in the finals, mirroring the format followed across both sections.
The Results:
Women 45 plus:Quarterfinals: Shital Shah (Guj) bt Sarika Varade (Mah) 11-5, 11-9, 11-6;Anjana Rao (Kar) bt Shama Patni Adhikari (Mah) 11-5, 11-3, 11-7; Sadiya Vanjara(Mah) bt Priti Vats (Del) 12-14, 11-9, 11-2, 11-6; Shruti Kanade Joshi (Mah) btRadhika Dorle (Mah) 11-8, 11-8, 4-11, 13-11.
Men 40 plus: Round 64:Pakhya Saha (ESIC) bt Saurabh Mohite (Mah) 3-1, Rahul Sarkar (Del) bt RameshPrusty (Mah) 3-0, Vikram Aaditya (ESIC) bt Amal Bharti (Raj) 3-0, Sujit Kumar(TN) bt Royston Suresh (Kar) 3-1, Thirthadip Ghosh (Telg) bt V.N. Raju (AP)3-1, C.R. Satyajit (Kar) bt Rayomand Marolia (Mah) 3-1, Viral Patel (Guj) btSharath Sankar (TN) 3-0, Anit Sen (UP) nt K.J. Avinash (Kar) 3-0, Rupesh Gharat(Mah) bt Atul Mangwana (Del) 3-0, Keval Vakani (Guj) bt Prashant Yadav (Har)3-1, Raja Sureddy (Telg) bt Sandeep D’Mello (Goa) 3-2, P.V. Sandeep (Kar) btSagar Shah (Mah) 3-1, Sumit Nagpal (Del) bt Vinay Yadav (Har) 3-2, EvgeniSaposnikov (Del) bt Suraj Narayan (Mah) 3-2, Anal Kashyap (Asm) bt ShyamBharadwaj (Telg) 3-0, Pathak Mehta (Guj) bt Vinay Kumar (Kar) 3-0, Navin (MP)bt Somnath Chakraborty (IA&AD) 3-1, Suyash Kunte (Mah) bt Sudhanshu Arya(Har) 3-1, Saurabh Poddar (UP) bt R. Vijaivakish (TN) 3-0, Naman Khandhar (Guj)bt U.N. Ramkumar (Kar) 3-0, Dharmrajsinh Rana (ESIC) bt Sandeep Hebbar (Kar)3-1, Rakesh Kumar (IA&AD) bt Aabhilash Thomas (Del) 3-2, G. Vinodh (TN)Avinash Chauhan (Del) 3-0, Tushar Shah (Guj) bt D.T. Kaarthick (TN) 3-0, KunalGajbhiye (MP) bt Narendra Sannabharti (Mah) 3-2, Gurpreet Singh (ESIC) btGaurav Kumar (Del) 3-0, Mohd. Farooqui (Telg) bt Pranav Verma (Kar) 3-2, SujayChaturvedi (IA&AD) bt V. Manikandan (TN) 3-1, Manish Saklani (Mah) bt KiranKumar (9Telg) 3-0, Bharat Ram (Kar) bt Nirav Patel (Guj) 3-0.
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