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PANCHKULA: Top seed and world number 3 Achanta Sharath Kamal found himself in the first quarter after getting a first round bye on the opening day of the UTT National Ranking North Zone Table Tennis Championships at the Tau Devi Lal Indoor Stadium on Tuesday.
The seasoned Sharath would be elated at the draw which poses no threat for the Chennai paddler, provided he plays with determination. Sharath is unlikely to face any danger, at least until the semi-finals where he could possibly meet either fifth seed Harmeet Desai or fourth seed Sanil Shetty, who form part of the second quarter. But Sushmit Sriram from Tamil Nadu is no pushover when it comes to big matches as he could run into Sharath in the quarterfinals.
In fact, the second quarter looks the best and it makes both Harmeet and Sanil’s job rather easy until the quarterfinals where they could meet each other. The third quarter, on the other hand, has two former national champions in Soumyajit Ghosh, seeded No. 3, and Anthony Amalraj, seeded sixth. But they also have youngsters Arjun Ghosh (No. 11) and Manush Shah (No. 14) who are capable of upsetting the applecart.
Second seed Manav Thakkar’s form will be crucial form him to make it to the medal rounds as he has some serious threats in No. 7 seed Ronit Bhanja of AAI, SFR Snehit, who felled Sharath once at this very venue and seeded 15, and Sourav Saha, seeded No. 10.
But the women’s top eight seeded players have no such hiccups on the day as they enjoy first round byes and will make their appearances on Wednesday. However, the fray will be left open to the qualifiers and seeds between nine and 16.
Meanwhile, 64 men made the cut to join the top seeds in the main draw while 40 women qualified for the knockout stages.
The seasoned Sharath would be elated at the draw which poses no threat for the Chennai paddler, provided he plays with determination. Sharath is unlikely to face any danger, at least until the semi-finals where he could possibly meet either fifth seed Harmeet Desai or fourth seed Sanil Shetty, who form part of the second quarter. But Sushmit Sriram from Tamil Nadu is no pushover when it comes to big matches as he could run into Sharath in the quarterfinals.
In fact, the second quarter looks the best and it makes both Harmeet and Sanil’s job rather easy until the quarterfinals where they could meet each other. The third quarter, on the other hand, has two former national champions in Soumyajit Ghosh, seeded No. 3, and Anthony Amalraj, seeded sixth. But they also have youngsters Arjun Ghosh (No. 11) and Manush Shah (No. 14) who are capable of upsetting the applecart.
Second seed Manav Thakkar’s form will be crucial form him to make it to the medal rounds as he has some serious threats in No. 7 seed Ronit Bhanja of AAI, SFR Snehit, who felled Sharath once at this very venue and seeded 15, and Sourav Saha, seeded No. 10.
But the women’s top eight seeded players have no such hiccups on the day as they enjoy first round byes and will make their appearances on Wednesday. However, the fray will be left open to the qualifiers and seeds between nine and 16.
Meanwhile, 64 men made the cut to join the top seeds in the main draw while 40 women qualified for the knockout stages.
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