3 overage boys debarred, Mizoram scratched

Ajmer, December 24, 2013: Ronit Bhanja, Udit Bhattacharya and Lalruat Puiab, who were found to be overage after medical tests conducted at the Jawaharlal Nehru Government Hospital here, were debarred from participating in the ONGC Cadet and Sub-Junior National Table Tennis Championships at the MC Chowhan Indoor Stadium today.

Mizoram borne the extra brunt as it was scratched from the Sub-Junior Boys team event since Puiab was part of the state’s team. West Bengal, however, escaped the punishment since Bjanja and Bhattacharya did not compete in the team championships.

The decision to debar the players and the team (Mizoram) was taken following adverse reports by the Medical Jurists from the hospital. Any further punishment, including a proposed five-year debarment of the players, will be taken by the TTFI’s executive board when it meets next.

Both Bhanja and Bhattacharya, competing in the sub-junior and Cadet sections, respectively, were warned of the medical tests during the North Zone Ranking Championships since their birth certificates aroused suspicion. In fact, Bhanja was the sub-junior titlist at Delhi, while Bhattacharya was a semifinalist in the Cadet category and their prize money and ranking points were withheld for want of original birth certificates.

“We had asked all players to produce proper birth proof documents, besides asking for undertakings to their correctness. Wherever we had suspicions about a boy or a girl, we randomly picked them for medical tests. Today we sent five boys and three were ruled to be overage. We have acted as per our guidelines. Before scratching the team and debarring players, we had consulted our president P.C. Chaturvedi and he was for taking the strictest action possible to put an end to this menace,” said TTFI secretary-general Dhanraj Choudhary.

Choudhary also added that they have informed the respective associations and asserted that there will be more such random tests conducted during the championships.

Mismatches galore

Meanwhile, the stage one group matches had the usual mismatches with the known teams making easy forays at the end of two rounds in all sections.  Indeed, there were a few surprises in the form of better-known teams being extended by the lesser ones but, by no stretch of imagination, did the latter cause any upset. In the Sub-Junior Boys, Andhra Pradesh managed a 3-1 win over Maharashtra A, while North Bengal struggled to beat Maharashtra B 3-2 in round two.

PSPB Academy almost ensured a place in the main draw by winning both their matches against Goa and Chandigarh with 3-0 verdicts. Similarly, Andhra notched their 3-0 win against Jammu and Kashmir to be at the doorstep of the main draw. Delhi, who trounced Himachal 3-0, suffered a 0-3 loss to West Bengal. Hosts Rajasthan defeated Sikkim 3-0 in the second round but lost 1-3 to Uttar Pradesh. UP are also closing in on their qualification with a match at hand.

In Sub-Junior Girls, Rajasthan had a bright start to beat Gujarat 3-1 in the first round, with Bhuvaneshwari and Priyanka Pareek doing the star turn for the hosts. After Priyanka won her singles, Bhuvaneshwari lost to Arushi Nandwani in a stretched rubber. But Bhuvaneshwar combined well with Priyanka Pareek to beat the Gujarat duo Fagun Bhatt and Abhija Desai 11-7, 11-4, 11-8 to go 2-0 up. Then Priyanka completed the formality with a straight sets win against Arushi.

In the Cadet Girls section, Haryana rattled Tamil Nadu with a 3-2 verdict in the first round in group E. With Suhana Saini and Trisha Pal, playing well, they provided a runaway lead of 2-0 for Haryana. However, Suhana and Anjali Rohilla lost their doubles to Vaishnavi and Sharmitha, which put pressure on Suhana who lost her reverse singles to Sharmitha 5-11, 3-11, 11-5, 11-7, 9-11. But Trisha Pal restored Haryana’s pride by beating Vaishnavi 11-8, 11-6, 11-8 to win 3-2.

A TTFI Press release