Mumbai : Youth boys top seed Shubham Ambre and junior boys third seed Jignesh Rahatwal crashed on a dramatic day of upsets, in the Li Ning 4 Star All Mumbai Table Tennis Tournament, at the NSCI, Worli, on Tuesday.
Unseeded Siddharth Birje stunned Ambre in a 4-2 thriller after leading 2-0 and snatching the sixth game over extra points, in an exciting quarterfinal, while unseeded Ashwin Subramanian shocked third seed Rahatwal to storm into the junior boys semi-finals.
Subramanian of Mulund snatched an 11-7, 11-8, 5-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-8 win in one of the most riveting encounters of the day. The former U-12 state and national champion and under-15 Mumbai District champion lived dangerously after enjoying a 2-0 cushion until Rahatwal won an easy third game and a crucial fifth over extra points.
On a day of exciting encounters, 61-year-old Percy Mehta, who recently retired from Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, Mumbai lit up the competition when he overcame young Chetan Dhere 13-11, 8-11, 8-11, 13-11, 12-10 in the most absorbing contest in the men’s third round, where one-handed wonder Om Lotlikar also rallied to a 3-2 thriller over Nitesh Kumavat at 11-6, 7-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-5.
