Sachin Ratti of Railways pipped Nikhil Kanetkar of Petroleum Sports Promotion Board 17-16, 17-16 in a thrilling encounter to enter the quarter-finals of the 68th Senior National badminton championship at the KVBR indoor stadium in Hyderabad on Tuesday.
Ratti, known for playing long rallies, matched his aggressive opponent shot for shot and took the first game after surviving some anxious moments.
The Railways player then looked liked running away with the tie when he took a 7-0 lead in the second game. But the southpaw had different ideas as he not only levelled the score but also took a one-point lead before Ratti regained his composure to take the game and the match in 78 minutes.
Meanwhile, defending champion Abhinn Shyam Gupta of PSPB packed off SDS Krishna of Andhra Pradesh 17-15, 15-1 to also move into the last eight.
Others who made it to the quarter-finals include Chetan Anand, Anoop Sridhar, JBS Vidyadhar, Arvind Bhatt, Utsav Mishra and Hemant Duggal.
In the women's section, defending champion Aparna Popat had no problems in thrashing Sampada Ghatnekar of Maharashtra 11-2, 11-2.
Trupti Murgunde, Aditi Mutatkar, Manjusha Kanwar, B R Meenakshi, Saina Nehwal, Krishna Deka Raja and Shruti Kurein completed the roaster for the last eight.
Results:
Men's singles (pre-quater-finals): Chetan Anand (PSPB) bt Rajaparna Kulkarni (MAH) 15-6, 15-2; Anoop Sridhar (KTK) bt Arup Baidya (RLY) 15-2, 15-12; JBS Vidyadhar(PSPB) bt Rohan Castelino (KTK) 15-1, 15-5; Arvind Bhat (PSPB) bt Ravinder Singh (UP) 15-9, 15 -4; Utsav Mishra (UP) bt A Pridvi (AP) 15-9, 17-14; Abhinn Shyam Gupta (PSPB) bt S D S Krishna (AP) 17-5, 15-1; Hemant Duggal (RLY) bt Nishad Dravid (MAH) 15-6 15-9; Sachin Ratti (RLY) bt Nikhil Kanetkar (PSPB) 17-16, 17-16.
Women's singles: Trupati Murgunde (MAH) bt Leena Dhapre (LIC) 11-8,11-3; Aditi Mutatkar (MAH) bt Jwala Gutta (PET) 11-6 11-7; Manjusha Kanwar (PSPB) bt Bibari Basumatari (ASM) 11-1,11-5; B R Meenakshi (PSPB) bt Fatima N Mohd (KER) 11-8, 11-1; Saina Nehwal (AP) bt Neha Makwana((Rlys) 11-9,13-10; KrishnaDeka Raja(Asm)bt Ch Depti (PSPB)11-7,11-3, Aparna Popat (PSPB) bt Sampada Ghatnekar (Mah) 11-2,11-2, Shruti (PSPB) bt Aditi Biswas (KTK) 11-1, 11-1.