Mumbai :Unseeded Yajat Thanawala won back-to-back ties to storm into the sub junior boys semi-finals, in the Li Ning 4 Star All Mumbai Table Tennis Tournament, at the NSCI, Worli, on Sunday. Thanawala shocked top seed Hrishikesh Malhotra 5-11, 11-8, 11-5, 2-11, 11-6 in an exciting pre-quarter-final and turned giant-killer when he upset eighth seed Maanav Shah 11-7, 11-7, 11-9 in the quarter-finals, on a dramatic day of upsets.
While the favourites tumbled, Pearl Amalsadwala was the toast of the day when she entered the midget championship round and cadet semi-finals following thrilling back-to-back wins. Unseeded Sampada Bhiwandkar of Jasudben ML rallied from 1-2 to stun second seed Vidhi Shah 9-11, 11-9, 8-11, 12-10, 11-6 in a thriller to progress to the sub junior girls semi-finals.
Bhiwandkar, who earlier was shocked in the cadet girls’ quarter-finals, made amends after rallying from 6-9 in the crucial fourth game and 3-6 in the decider to snatch a nail-biter over Shah. Second seed Mainak Nistala, third seed Arnav Karnavar and fourth seed T.K. Shrikanth were the other casualties in the cadet boys’ quarter-finals, where top seed Dhruv Das survived a scare and rallied from 0-2 to beat a gallant Mayuresh Shinde in a 3-2 thriller.
