Top teams move into quarterfinals of Junior and Youth National Table Tennis championships

Siliguri, January 4, 2012: All big teams, including those favoured to win titles, made short work of their opponents in the team events of the Indian Oil 73rd Junior and Youth National Table Tennis Championships, reaching the quarterfinals here at the Municipal Corporation Indoor Stadium on Wednesday evening.

Except for a couple of matches in each of the youth and junior sections, boys and girls included, the rest of the matches were completely a one-sided affair with the favourites making the grade without a whimper, winning their matches 3-0. 

In the youth boys' section, there were no surprises as holders Tamil Nadu mowed down Assam 3-0, Delhi beat Uttar Pradesh 3-0, North Bengal downed Chattisgarh 3-0, Maharashtra A beat Haryana 3-0, PSPB accounted for Orissa 3-0, Gujarat defeated Punjab 3-0 and Karnataka overcame Maharashtra B 3-1.

As for the youth girls, Kerala took a game off holders Maharashtra A despite the latter having Mallika Bhandarkar, India No. 3 in their ranks. In fact, it was she who had to bail out her team, winning both her singles. Madhya Pradesh too managed to push Andhra Pradesh a little bit but the latter won 3-1.

In other pre-quarterfinal matches, Tamil Nadu beat Pondicherry 3-0, West Bengal downed  Assam 3-0, Gujarat defeated Orissa 3-0, Maharashtra B blanked out Punjab 3-0, North Bengal scored a 3-0 win over Goa and PSPB downed Delhi 3-0.

In junior boys, holders PSPB-A blanked out Orisssa 3-0, Maharashtra A beat Karnataka 3-0, Gujarat accounted for Maharashtra B 3-0, West Bengal downed Goa 3-0, North Bengal defeated Andhra Pradesh 3-0, Rajasthan overcame Uttar Pradesh 3-1, Delhi beat Punjab 3-0 and Tamil Nadu managed a 3-1 verdict against Assam.

In junior girls, Gujarat struggle to go past Jharkhand 3-2, while Punjab managed to take a game off holders Andhra, who won 3-1, hosts North Bengal accounted for Maharashtra B 3-0, West Bengal downed Kerala 3-0, Delhi won over Karnataka 3-1, Tamil Nadu beat Madhya Pradesh 3-0, Maharashtra A defeated Orissa 3-0 and PSPB-A accounted for Uttar Pradesh 3-0.

A TTFI Press Release