Syndrela Das, Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ankur Bhattacharjee emerged as giant-killers on Saturday, spearheading a dominant Indian showing as the host nation secured a clean sweep of the singles podium at the 22nd Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex.The Bengal trio upset higher-ranked Australian opponents in the quarterfinals, ensuring all eight semifinal berths across the men’s and women’s singles belonged to India. With the doubles events also entering the decisive phase, the host remained on course for a clean sweep of titles.
Sutirtha accounted for second seed Min Hyung Jee in five games.
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The biggest upset of the tournament came courtesy of 16-year-old Syndrela, who stunned top seed and World No. 31 Yangzi Liu in six games. Having lost to the Australian in Ultimate Table Tennis barely a fortnight ago, Syndrela turned the tables with a fearless display, repeatedly catching Yangzi off guard with her ferocious winners.The teenager looked set for a comfortable finish after racing to an 8-2 lead in the sixth game. Yangzi, however, mounted a spirited comeback, claiming six of the next seven points to reduce the deficit to 9-8. Syndrela’s tactical timeout proved decisive. Regaining her composure, she produced a trademark backhand winner before Yangzi miscued a backhand topspin, sealing the biggest victory of the youngster’s career.Minutes earlier, Sutirtha had accounted for second seed Min Hyung Jee in five games, relying on her powerful forehand winners to book her place in the semifinals.The men’s quarterfinal between Ankur and third seed Nicholas Lum provided the afternoon’s most absorbing contest. It turned into a fascinating tactical duel between Lum’s explosive forehand topspins and Ankur’s backhand-oriented game, with the animated Indian feeding off the home crowd’s energy to script a memorable victory.Hometown hero Payas Jain, too, bested fourth seed Harmeet Desai in an absorbing all-Indian contest to set up a last-four clash against top seed Manush Shah.
