Himanshi Chowdhary stuns Manika Batra in major upset at National Ranking Table Tennis Championships

Karnataka’s Himanshi Chowdhary produced the biggest upset of the opening day at the third National Ranking Table Tennis Championships, defeating former national champion and India’s leading international paddler Manika Batra to secure her place in the women’s singles main draw.

Competing at the Shanti Devi Mittal Indoor Stadium, Lovely Professional University, Himanshi prevailed 9-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-8, 11-3 in the decisive final round of the group qualifiers in Group 69. The victory was particularly impressive given the way the match unfolded: Himanshi twice fell behind by a game before taking control in the fourth and delivering a commanding performance in the decider.

Her achievement earned her the Tata Power Player of the Day award, which carries a cash prize of Rs. 10,000. The award will be presented daily during the championship to recognise the day’s outstanding performer.

For Manika, the defeat brought an unexpectedly early end to her campaign. The former national champion had entered the competition as one of the leading names in the women’s singles field and was widely expected to progress through the qualifying rounds. She had started with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Monolipi Singha, but was unable to carry that momentum into the decisive encounter against Himanshi.

The Karnataka paddler, meanwhile, showed remarkable composure against an opponent with considerably greater international experience. After losing the opening game 9-11, Himanshi responded with an 11-6 win to level the match. Manika edged the third game 11-9, putting herself one game away from victory, but Himanshi refused to let the contest slip away.

The fourth game proved pivotal. Himanshi raised her level to win 11-8 and force a decider. With the match back on level terms, she produced her strongest stretch of table tennis, racing to an 11-3 victory in the fifth game. The emphatic finish left Manika with little opportunity to recover and completed a memorable result for the Karnataka player.

The result underlined the unpredictability of the qualifying stage, where established reputations offer no guarantee of progression. For Himanshi, beating one of India’s most accomplished paddlers will provide a significant confidence boost heading into the next stage.

Sreeja Akula advances as other contenders battle through

While Manika’s exit dominated the day’s headlines, fellow former national champion Sreeja Akula successfully negotiated her group assignments to book her place in the next stage.

The RBI paddler, who also had to take the qualifying route, recorded a convincing 3-0 victory over Bhumika Sahukar in Group 1. Her performance ensured that one of the other prominent names in the women’s field progressed without a similar setback.

The qualifying rounds also produced several closely fought encounters, with a number of players having to recover from defeats to keep their campaigns alive.

Ahana Sengupta experienced a mixed day in Group 15. She began with a 2-3 defeat against Vanshika Mudgal of FCI but responded with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Ranjini Saha. The recovery was important in keeping her hopes alive in a competitive group.

Group 19 featured another pair of demanding matches. Hiya Singh went down 2-3 to Naisha Rewaskar before regrouping to defeat Sanchari Chakrabarty 3-1. Her response demonstrated the importance of recovering quickly in a qualifying format where players have limited opportunities to make up for an early setback.

Shaniqa Shahid also showed resilience in Group 20. After losing 1-3 to Nithyashree Mani, she bounced back to register a 3-2 win over Sanya Sehgal. The five-game contest highlighted the competitive depth across the qualifying field.

Preetika P in Group 17 and Mitali Purkar in Group 52 were among the other players involved in five-game battles, reflecting the intensity of the opening day’s competition. Across the groups, players had to demonstrate not only technical ability but also the composure to handle pressure and recover between matches.

Sathiyan makes a positive start in men’s qualifiers

In the men’s singles qualifying competition, G. Sathiyan, another established international player required to negotiate the group stage, made a positive start. He won his opening match comfortably, avoiding the kind of early difficulty that affected some of the leading women’s contenders.

His progress will be among the storylines to follow as the men’s qualifying rounds continue.

Main-draw action begins Sunday

The qualifying rounds are scheduled to conclude on Saturday, with attention then shifting to the main-draw competition on Sunday. The top 16 seeds in both the men’s and women’s singles categories will enter the tournament at that stage.

Himanshi’s victory over Manika has already provided the championship with a major talking point. More importantly, it has demonstrated the opportunity the national ranking circuit offers emerging players to challenge established names.

For Manika, the early exit will be a disappointing setback. For Himanshi, it is a career-defining result and an opportunity to carry the confidence of a major upset into the next round of competition. As the seeded players prepare to enter the main draw, the opening day’s results have served as a reminder that progression at the national level must be earned at the table.