Top seed Manika Batra spent very little time at the table to bow out in the first round of the women's singles at the National Ranking (South Zone) Table Tennis Championships at the DRM Municipal Indoor Hall in Vijaywada on Monday, 10 September.
The honour of sending the CWG champion and mixed doubles bronze medallist of the Jakarta Asiad back home very early went to 18-year-old Anannya Basak, a recent recruit of Dena Bank.
Anannya, the daughter of Kanchan and Arup Basak, won 11-4, 5-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-8 in less than 40 minutes to make several eyebrows raise.
As if the disappointment of losing the top-seed from the tournament was not enough, fifth seed Krittwika Sinha Roy, seventh seed Ayhika Mukherjee and eighth seed Madhurika Patkar were also sent back by three other unseeded players.
Shanmathi Sathiyan of Tamil Nadu defeated Krittwika 6-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8, Maria Rony of Canara Bank beat Ayhika 12-10, 11-6, 11-9, 11-8 while Surbhi Patwari of West Bengal got the better of Madhurika by a 11-7, 11-7, 11-9, 8-11, 11-9 margin.
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