Kavyashree Baskar sparks upsets at UTT National-ranking event in Kanpur

Kavyashree Baskar was the standout on a day of upsets at the UTT National-ranking table tennis tournament held at The Sportz Hub in Kanpur on August 22, 2026, as Sayali Wani (seeded sixth), Taneesha Kotecha (seeded eighth), G. Sathiyan (seeded 11th) and H. Jeho (seeded eighth) were eliminated.

The tournament’s penultimate day featured a heavy schedule with five of the eight men’s main-draw rounds and four of the seven women’s rounds due to be completed. Nashik-based Sayali Wani and Taneesha Kotecha, both representing the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board, exited in the women’s round of 64. H. Jeho and G. Sathiyan bowed out in the men’s round of 32.

Taneesha Kotecha was beaten by Maharashtra’s Pritha Vartikar in five games, losing 12-10, 11-13, 11-9, 11-13, 3-11.

Kavyashree Baskar recovered from a two-game deficit to upset Sayali Wani and then prevailed in another deciding match to reach the last 16.

Men’s round-of-32 action produced several notable results: Manush Shah (RBI) beat S. Preyesh Raj (RSPB) 16-14, 11-3, 9-11, 11-7; Abhimanyu Mitra (IA&AD) defeated G. Sathiyan (PSPB) 12-10, 11-6, 11-8; Divyansh Srivastava (U.P.) overcame Sarthak Arya (Odi) 5-11, 11-6, 11-2, 11-4; Sanil Shetty (PSPB) beat Ayan Ghosh (Ben) 11-9, 11-6, 11-5; Manav Thakkar (PSPB) won against Neil Mulye (Mah) 11-8, 11-7, 5-11, 11-7; and Priyanuj Bhattacharyya (RSPB) edged H. Jeho (Miz) 11-3, 7-11, 11-6, 12-10.

Women’s round-of-32 results included top seed Yashaswini Ghorpade (PSPB) surviving a five-game match with Aarti Chaudhary (U.P.) 11-3, 9-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-6; Sreeja Akula (RBI) beating Anjali Rohilla (IA&AD) 8-11, 11-5, 14-12, 11-8; Syndrela Das (Ben) defeating Ayhika Mukherjee (RBI) 11-6, 6-11, 11-8, 11-1; Kavyashree Baskar (TN) beating Ahona Ray (Ben) 11-9, 11-9, 7-11, 3-11, 11-9; Anusha Kutumbale (RSPB) beating Hardee Patel (Mah) 11-4, 8-11, 13-11, 11-7; Swastika Ghosh (PSPB) overcoming Prithoki Chakraborti (RSPB) 5-11, 11-7, 12-10, 11-8; Suhana Saini (Har) beating Avisha Karmakar (Ben) 7-11, 12-10, 11-7, 10-12, 11-9; and Tanishka Kalbhairav (Kar) defeating Madhurika Patkar (PSPB) 8-11, 12-10, 11-8, 7-11, 11-8.

Trailing 4-6 in the deciding game, Yashaswini Ghorpade ran off seven consecutive points to complete her win, which sets up a pre-quarterfinal clash with top-ranked Sreeja Akula.