Indore: The mixed doubles competition at the AAI 52nd Institutional Table Tennis Championships delivered a gripping day of action at the Abhay Prashal, with the pre-quarterfinals producing a blend of authority, endurance, and late-match nerve as the quarterfinal lineup took shape.

Most of the top combinations lived up to their billing, negotiating demanding schedules that saw many players doubling up across singles and doubles. PSPB’s top-seeded pair Payas Jain and Syndrela Das set the tone with a crisp, straight-games win. At the same time, their teammates and third-seed Divyansh Srivastava and Swastika Ghosh were equally assured, cruising past their West Bengal opponents without dropping a game. Second-seeds Harmeet Desai and Yashaswini Ghorpade, however, were forced to dig deep after conceding the opening game before reasserting control in four tightly contested games.

Several encounters turned into stern physical and mental tests. The RBI pairing of Asif Haque and Harsha Vardini produced one of the day’s standout performances, orsting the fifth-seeded IA&AD duo of H. Jeho and Anjali Rohilla in a five-game thriller marked by rapid momentum shifts and sustained rallies. Tamil Nadu’s Senthil Kumar and Ananya Muralidharan also went the distance, eventually prevailing 3-2 and 11-5 in the decider after trading blows across five fluctuating games.

Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) enjoyed a productive outing, with Anirban Ghosh and Anusha Kutumbale surviving a pressure-laden four-game battle that featured two deuce games, while Preyesh Raj and Sampada Bhiwandkar showed composure in the closing stages of a five-game contest to turn the match in their favour. Akash Pal and Poymantee Baisya, meanwhile, stamped their authority with a commanding straight-games victory over an experienced RBI combination.

There was little margin for error elsewhere. IA&AD’s Karthik Solaiyan and Yashini Sivasankar held their nerve after being dragged into a decider, while West Bengal’s Ankur Bhattacharjee and Sataporni De wrapped up their match efficiently despite persistent resistance. Wins for pairs from Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and West Bengal further underlined the competitive depth on display.

Except for the fifth seeds, all seeded pairs advanced, setting the stage for high-quality quarterfinals. With players balancing heavy singles workloads and looming doubles knockout rounds later in the day, the mixed doubles quarterfinals promise another demanding chapter when play resumes tomorrow.

Results:

Mixed Doubles:Pre-quarterfinals:Payas Jain/Syndrela Das (PSPB) bt KJ Akash/Naisha Rewaskar (CB) 11-8, 11-6, 11-7; Wesley Do Rosario/Prithoki Chakraborty (FCI) bt Nitin Thiruvengadam/Senhora D’Souza (BoB) 11-8, 8-11, 11-8, 11-7; Senthil Kumar/Ananya Muralidharan (TN) bt Raj Mondal/Nikhat Banu (RBI) 11-6, 11-8, 5-11, 11-13, 11-5; Anirban Ghosh/Anusha Kutumbale (RSPB) bt Rupam Sardar/Avisha Karmakar (AAI) 11-8, 10-12, 11-9, 15-13; Asif Hque/Harsha Vardini (RBI) bt H. Jeho/Anjali Rohilla (IA&AD) 11-5, 7-11, 11-4, 9-11, 11-9; Preyesh Raj/Sampada Bhiwandkar (RSPB) bt Vansh Singh/Vanshika Bhargava (fCI) 7-11, 11-5, 9-11, 12-10, 11-7; PB Abhinand/Nithyashree Mani (TN) bt Sagar Kasture/Pritha Vartikar (Mah) 9-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-9; Ankur Bhattacharjee/Sataporni De (WB) bt Bodhisatwa Chaudhury/Tanishka Kalbhairav ​​(CB) 11-6, 11-6, 11-9; Divyansh Srivastava/Swastika Ghosh (PSPB) bt Aniket Bose/Sampriti Roy (WB) 11-8, 11-6, 11-9; Karthik Solaiyan/Yashini Sivasankar (IA&AD) 11-9, 11-5, 12-14, 10-12, 11-6; Sarth Mishra/Avani Tripathi (UP) Vignesh Reddy/Priyadarsini Das (RBI) 11-5, 11-9, 11-6; Kushala Chopda/Ananya Chande (Mah) bt Monorup Ghosh/Sneha Bhowmick (FCI) 11-6, 9-11, 11-8, 11-6; Akash Pal/Poymantee Baisya (RSPB) bt Bharat Balakrishnan/Ayhika Mukherjee (RBI) 11-8, 11-4, 11-2; Shivjit Singh Lamba/Chipia Frenaz (IA&AD) bt Raegan Albuquerque/Maria Rony (CB) 12-10, 11-7, 11-7; Aniket Sen Choudhury/Munmun Kundu (WB) bt Siddhesh Pande/Selena Deepthi (TN) 11-9, 11-5, 9-11, 11-3; Harmeet Desai/Yashaswini Ghorpade (PSPB) bt Priyanuj Bhattacharyya/Trisha Gogoi (Asm) 9-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-8.