Indian sports wrap, September 10: Sathiyan, Harmeet, Payas enter quarterfinals of UTT National Ranking Championships
TABLE TENNIS
National Ranking TT: Sathiyan, Harmeet, Payas enter quarterfinals
The pre-quarterfinals of the UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships saw most top-seeded players advance though not without a few hiccups.
In the men’s singles, fourth seed Ronit Bhanja fell early, but the remaining big names, including Ankur Bhattacharjee, Harmeet Desai, G. Sathiyan, and Payas Jain booked their quarterfinal spots.
SFR Snehit had to dig deep to oust Priyanuj Bhattacharyya 3-2, while Harmeet too survived a five-game match against Tharun Shanmugam.
The women’s singles witnessed tighter battles. Top seed Diya Chitale was stretched to five games by Assam’s Trisha Gogoi before scraping through. Seeded players Yashaswini Ghorpade and Sutirtha Mukherjee also endured full-distance wins, while Vadodara champion Anusha Kutumbale crashed out to Reeth Rishya in another thriller.
In the U-19 boys’ singles, only Bengal’s Oishik Ghosh faced a scare, coming from 0-2 down to beat Karnataka’s Atharva Nawaranage 3-2. Top seed P.B. Abhinand and other favourites — Kushal Chopda, Punit Biswas, and M. Balamurugan — progressed comfortably.
The U-19 girls’ singles largely stuck to the script, with Divyanshi Bhowmick, Jennifer Varghese, Ananya Muralidharan, and M. Hansini cruising into the last eight. Maharashtra’s Naisha Rewaskar, however, edged out Sukrati Sharma 3-2 in one of the closer ties.
Results
Men’s Singles (PQF):
Ankur Bhattacharjee (WB) bt Preyesh Raj Suresh (RSPB) 3-1; SFR Snehit (IA&AD) bt Priyanuj Bhattacharyya (Asm) 3-2; Harmeet Desai (PSPB) bt Tharun Shanmugam (TN) 3-2; Raegan Albuquerque (Mah) bt Jash Modi (Mah) 3-0; Payas Jain (Del) bt Aniket Sen. Choudhury (WB) 3-0; Akash Pal (RSPB) bt Yashansh Malik (Del) 3-1; Punit Biswas (WB) bt Deepit Patil (Mah) 3-2; G. Sathiyan (PSPB) bt Sudhanshu Grover (Del) 3-0.
Women’s Singles (PQF):
Diya Chitale (RBI bt Trisha Gogoi (Asm) 3-2; Taneesha Kotecha (Mah) bt Suhana Saini (Har) 3-1; Senhora D’Souza (BoB) bt Tamanna Saini (IA&AD) 3-0; Yashaswini Ghorpade (PSPB) bt Madhurika Patkar (PSPB) 3-2; Sutirtha Mukherjee (RSPB) bt Selena Deepthi (TN) 3-2; Reeth Rishya (PSPB) bt Aanusha Kutumbale (RSPB) 3-2; Syndrela Das (WB) bt Nithyashree Mani (TN) 3-1; Sayanika Maji (Del0 bt Prithoki Chakraborti (FCI) 3-0.
– PTI
MORE SPORTS
Sports Ministry launches flexible coaching course for sports recruits in govt. departments
Sports quota recruits working in various government departments are set to be offered a flexible two-year Special Capacity Building Course at Patiala’s Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports to equip them with “professional coaching competencies”.
The course is set to commence from October 27 with September 25 being the last date to submit applications. The initiative is driven by Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya’s stated objective of ensuring that India’s athletes remain actively involved in the country’s sporting ecosystem even after their competitive careers wind up.
“Completion of all four levels leads to a Diploma-equivalent Certification in Sports Coaching,” stated a note from the sports ministry, which described it as “tailored for working professionals to complete within two years.” Disciplines that would be covered in the course are Athletics, Boxing, Judo, Hockey and Wrestling.
NIS already offers a prestigious diploma in coaching across 26 disciplines but this course differs from that module as it seeks to “reintegrate” athletes who are employed with government departments and have lost touch with sports.
“The major difference lies in flexibility. That course demands a one-year undisturbed run-time but this one can be completed in four levels across two years and even four years. The participants will also have the exit option after each level’s completion,” Sports Authority of India’s (SAI) Deputy Director Sibananda Mishra told PTI.
“Working professionals are unlikely to get a one-year break from their jobs to pursue a coaching course. But this course will allow them a longer window to complete the course as the mandatory offline training duration at NIS will be six weeks at a stretch,” he explained.
“The age bracket has also been kept at a rather 40-42 range so that we get a good response,” he added.
– PTI
Published on Sep 10, 2025