09 October,2009 07:31 AM IST | | Correspondent
Third seed Eric Fernandes a late fightback from Dheeraj Rai to score a 11-9, 12-10, 5-11, 8-11, 11-7, 14-12 win to enter the last four in the men's singles event of the MCDTTA-All Mumbai major ranking table tennis tournament, sponsored by Bajaj Group, co-sponsored by Pidilite and Welspun at Matunga Gymkhana yesterday.
Eric, known for his consistent strokeplay, blunted Dheeraj's attack by intelligently varying the pace and raced to a 2-0 lead. But Dheeraj, who rarely troubled Eric in their earlier encounters, fought back to neutralise the advantage his opponent had gained. Eric however, was at his best in the next two games and wrapped up the tie.
Meanwhile, the top two seeds, internationals Sanil Shetty and Aman Balgu had relatively easy outings in their quarter-final encounters.
Sanil ousted Saurabh Mohite 14-12, 11-3, 11-2, 11-9, while Aman gave Gaurav Parte a flicker of hope before going on to win 11-7, 11-4, 12-10, 8-11, 11-9.
