Vadodara, Jan 9 (IANS) Junior national champion Hansini Mathan, wild card entrant Sanil Shetty, and mixed doubles combination Payas Jain and Syndrela Das upset higher-ranked opponents to advance to the second round of the WTT Feeder Series 2026, presented by Sports Authority of Gujarat, at the SAMA Indoor Sports Complex in Vadodara on Friday.

The 16-year-old Hansini, who holds the record of the youngest junior national champion in India, came up with her top game against world number 78 and third seed Yoo Yerin from the Republic of Korea to win 11-8, 11-3, 11-9. She will face Ryu Hanna of the Korean Republic, who had to work hard to beat another young Indian star, Tanishka Kalbhairav, 7-11, 11-7, 11-5, 9-11, 11-9 in the opening round.

Hansini then teamed up with Sampada Bhiwandkar to upset third seeds Anusha Kutumbale and Baisya 9-11, 15-13, 11-4, 6-11, 12-10 in the women’s doubles first round.

The inaugural edition of the WTT Feeder Series in Vadodara, presented by the Sports Authority of Gujarat, is being hosted by the Table Tennis Association of Baroda and implemented by UTT.

In men’s singles, Shetty fought back from a two-game deficit and saved a match point to beat second seed Harmeet Desai 6-11, 5-11, 14-12, 13-11, 11-7. He will next face qualifier Sougata Sarkar in the pre-quarterfinals.

Priyanuj Bhattacharya also upset eighth seed Navid Shams of Iran 9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-4 to advance to the second round, where he will meet Yashansh Malik.

In the mixed doubles first round, Jain and Das put behind a difficult opening game to beat Pal and Baisya 4-11, 11-6, 11-8, 10-12, 11-6 to advance to the next round.

Other top players in men’s singles, with first seed Manush Shah, third seed Snehit Suravajjula, and sixth seed Ankur Bhattacharjee advancing to the next round.

Manush defeated qualifier Parth Magar 11-7, 11-4, 11-4. Snehit beat wild card entrant Pratham Madlani 11-5, 11-7, 11-3, while Bhattacharjee got the better of Abhinandh Pradhivadhi 11-6, 3-11, 11-8, 11-6.

Manush, who hails from Baroda, took control of the match by opening up a 5-2 lead in the opening game, and though Magar managed to close the gap at 7-6, the local favourite sailed through the opening game. In the second game, Manush won six straight points from 5-4 to extend his advantage and was hardly troubled in the third.

In the pre-quarterfinals, Bhattacharjee will face Mudit Dani, who defeated Ved Sheth 11-7, 7-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-6. Snehit will take on Divyansh Srivastava, who defeated qualifier Balamurugan Rajasekaran 11-6, 11-9, 11-4.

–IANS

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