Soumyajit falls to unheralded Hardik

PATNA: Counted among the promising lot in the country, the North Bengal duo of Ankita Das and Soumyajit Ghosh enjoyed contrasting fortunes in the opening round of the 70th Senior National table tennis championships at the Secretariat Sports Complex on Friday.
While 16-year-old Ankita broke no sweat in her 4-0 win over local girl L Sumila Devi, Ghosh suffered a shock 1-4 loss against 35th-ranked Hardik Bhatt, placed 17 slots below him.While 18th-ranked Ghosh was the day's biggest casualty, another upset saw last year's semi-finalist Sayan Paul Roy lose 0-4 to Haryana's Rajiv Ghai. Seeded players, led by Achanta Sharath Kamal, were hardly troubled in their opening round clashes.
Ankita, ranked No. 2 in the youth category, will take on 2008 finalist Anindita Chakraborty in the second round on Saturday. The Siliguri teenager, who squandered a two-game lead against Poulomi Ghatak in the team championship final on Thursday, reckoned that the experienced Anindita too would be tough to beat.
"I'm playing pretty well but the seniors know when to vary the pace of the game which gives them the edge. Anindita is a fighter and an intelligent player, but, I've set myself a target of reaching the final and I'm hopeful of achieving it," Ankita told TOI. Anindita, who's twice as old as Ankita, said she's not taking the teenager lightly.