Sarthak manages his place in quarters

Tribune News Service

Mohali, January 28

Top seed Sarthak Gandhi somehow managed to overpower a tough challenge by Sainyam Gandhi to sail into the boys’ U-18 quarterfinals in the Roots- AITA Challenge Series (CS-7) National Ranking Championship, today.

Sarthak faced a tough resistance from Sainyam before winning the first set 5-3. Sainyam kept patience and logged a comeback 3-5 in the second set. In tie-break, Sarthak was again on back foot but improved on time to register a 10-8 victory.

Second seed Pankaj Singh also registered a tough fought victory over Arnav Bishnoi 5-4(4) 4-2. Third seed Dhairya Chadha registered a comeback win over Arnav Harsh to cement his place in the final-eight. Chadha lost the first set 1-4, but overpower a tough challenge ahead to log 5-4(3) (10-8) win for the quarters. Shubh Negi meanwhile defeated Avish Verma 4-0 5-3, whereas Manjoot Singh defeated Aarush Sharma 4-1 4-2. Naresh Badgujar also logged an easy 4-1 4-1 win over Vivek Shah. Arnav Malik outplayed Iren Singh and Amish Bansal ousted Preet Paul Sidhu without conceding a single game 4-0 4-0.

Harwin stuns top seed

In the boys’ U-16 category, unranked Harwin Singh stunned top seed Vivek Shah by registering a stunning comeback victory. Harwin won the first set 4-2 and was looking good to take away the second. But Shah maded an exceptional comeback by registering a 4-5(9) win. In the decider tie-break, Harwin raced ahead by logging a 10-7 win. Second seed Manan Kumar defeated Om Kaushik 4-1 4-2, whereas third seed Kartik Sunil Kumar ousted Paras Verma 4-2 4-1.

Aarush Sharma defeated Tarun Sharma 4-1 4-2, while Arnav Bishnoi recorded an easy 4-0 4-0 win over Iren Singh. Navya Verma also marched ahead by defeating Gurbaaz Singh 4-1 4-0 and Harmanjit Singh ousted Arnav Malik 5-3 5-3. Sukhwinder Singh defeated Umang Singh 4-2 4-2.

Results (pre quarterfinals)

Boys’ U-18

Sarthak Gandhi bt Sainyam Gandhi 5-3 3-5(10-8), Dhairya Chadha bt Arnav Harsh 1-4 5-4(3) (10-8), Shubh Negi bt Avish Verma 4-0 5-3, Manjoot Singh bt Aarush Sharma 4-1 4-2, Naresh Badgujar bt Vivek Shah 4-1 4-1, Arnav Malik bt Iren Singh 4-0 4-0, Amish Bansal bt Preet Paul Sidhu 4-0 4-0, Pankaj Singh bt Arnav Bishnoi 5-4(4) 4-2;

Boys’ U-16

Harwin Singh bt Vivek Shah 4-2 4-5(9) (10-7), Aarush Sharma bt Tarun Sharma 4-1 4-2,Arnav Bishnoi bt Iren Singh 4-0 4-0, Kartik Sunil kumar bt Paras Verma 4-2 4-1,Navya Verma bt Gurbaaz Singh 4-1 4-0, Harmanjit Singh bt Arnav Malik 5-3 5-3, Sukhwinder Singh bt Umang Singh 4-2 4-2, Manan Kumar bt Om Kaushik 4-1 4-2