Dehradun, February 10: The 38th National Games witnessed a major upset as Telangana’s SFR Snehit, the third seed, crashed out in the men’s singles on Day 3 at the Parade Ground Indoor Hall.

Snehit fell 2-3 to Maharashtra’s unseeded Chinmaya Somaya in a fiercely contested battle, underscoring the mounting challenges for the remaining seeded players. Meanwhile, second seed Payas Jain had his struggles, barely edging past Tamil Nadu’s unseeded S. Preyesh Raj in a tense 3-2 encounter.

Both Snehit and Payas faced left-handers, but their fortunes differed. Snehit, trailing 1-2, fought back to level the score in a deuce game, but Chinmaya’s sharp shot placement and composure under pressure sealed the match 6-11, 11-8, 11-7, 10-12, 11-9. On the other hand, Payas led 2-1 before a resilient Preyesh took the fourth game, momentarily unsettling the Delhi paddler. However, Payas relied on his international exposure to hold firm in the decider, securing a 10-12, 11-5, 11-9, 5-11, 11-8 victory.

Other matches provided plenty of drama. Uttar Pradesh’s Abhishek Yadav overcame a spirited challenge from Uttarakhand’s Akash Gupta, who had a promising 2-0 lead before succumbing 2-11, 4-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-7. Another local player, Gautam Dhruvansh, rallied impressively against UP’s Sarth Mishra, forcing a fifth game after clinching a thrilling 13-11 fourth set, only to fall short 11-9, 7-11, 11-4, 11-13, 11-8. Maharashtra’s Deepit R. Patil exited the Round of 32, losing a tight five-setter to Aniket Sen Choudhry.

The mixed doubles event also saw a significant upset as top seeds Diya Chitale and Deepit Patil of Maharashtra bowed out in the pre-quarterfinals, losing 1-3 to Bengal’s Anirban Ghosh and Ayhika Mukherjee. However, Diya bounced back in women’s doubles, partnering with Swastika Ghosh to dominate Gujarat’s Frenaz Chipia and Fatela Kadriflzah 3-0.

The biggest shock in women’s doubles came as Kerala’s Maria Rony and Pranati P. Nair stunned second-seeded Sutirtha Mukherjee and Poyamentee Baisya of Bengal in a five-set thriller, 12-14, 11-7, 6-11, 11-9, 11-8. The Kerala pair's dramatic turnaround happened when it won the last two games to the disappointment of the Bengal duo.

The competition continues to intensify, with unseeded challengers proving they can shake up the best in the tournament.

Results:

Men’s Singles: Round 32: G. Sathiyan (TN) bt S. Tharun (TN) 3-0; Siddhesh Pande (Mah) bt Ramesh Kumar (Telg) 3-1; Abhishek Yadav (UP) bt Akash Gupta (Ukd) 3-2; Ronit Bhanja (WB) bt Sudhanshu Maini (Del) 3-0; Divyansh Srivastava (UP) bt Aadarsh Om Chetri (Del) 3-2; P.B. Abhinand (TN0 bt Priyanuj Bhattacharyya (Asm) 3-1; Aniket Sen Choudhury (WB) bt Deepit R. Patil (Mah) 3-2; Akash Pal (WB) bt Ali Mohammed (Telg) 3-0; Chinmaya Somaiya (Mah) bt SFR Snehit (Telg) 3-2; Jash Modi (Mah) bt Shridhar Joushi (UP) 3-0; Shivjit Singh Lamba (Del) bt Sourav Saha (WB) 3-0; A. Amalraj (TN) bt Aarav Negi (Ukd) 3-0; Anirban Ghosh (WB) bt Mohammed Ali (Telg) 3-1; Sarth Mishra (UP) bt Gautam Dhruvansh (Ukd) 3-2; Raegan Albuquerque (Mah) bt Swarnendu Chowdhury (Telg) 3-0; Payas Jain (Del) bt S. Preyesh Raj (TN0 3-2.