Six more join overage gang, ousted from meet

Ajmer, December 28, 2013: With six out of eight paddlers turning overage positives, the focus shifted back to the age-old issue once again at the ONGC Cadet and Sub-Junior National Table Tennis Championships at the MC Chowhan Indoor Stadium here today.

Of the six, who were sent out of the championships following the medical jurists’ report, two belonged to West Bengal (Avijit Basu and Koushani Nath) and one each from North Bengal (Ritika Kundu), Assam (Shankar Gautam Barua), Himachal (Aryan) and Karnataka Rohan Jamadagni). Except for one Cadet boy, all others were sub-juniors.

In fact, Koushani Nath, seeded 7 in sub-junior singles, played a crucial role in helping West Bengal win sub-junior girls’ team crown. According to rules, the team also stands to lose the title, but it has been left to the TTFI’s executive board, which is meeting in Patna on January 12, to arrive at a decision.

If the executive board decides to withdraw the title from West Bengal, then Tamil Nadu, who finished runners-up, will be elevated to the top. However, no team will be given the silver medal since there was no bronze medal playoff.

Admitting that the TTFI measures have put the others teams on alert, TTFI secretary-general Dhanraj Choudhary said: “Our message was loud and clear to all state associations before the championships. We are only trying to put an end to this malady.”

In the first lot of medical tests conducted on the second day of the championships, three players and the Mizoram team were scrapped. With the championships coming to its business end tomorrow, the TTFI has already noted down a few more names that are under the scanner.  

“We will continue this drive relentlessly to weed out suspicious cases. Some players have already withdrawn from the championships citing medical reasons and we may soon ask them to appear before a medical board,” added Choudhary.

Intensity retained

The overage issue may have taken the sheen off the singles events somewhat, but matches in both the Cadet Boys and Girls retained their intensity as pre-quarter finalists were spotted. However, the sub-junior section matches were still on and it will be interesting to note who all move up.

Six from the top half of Cadet Boys were stretched but Andhra’s B. Vishnu, Delhi’s Payas Jain, PSPBA’s Alberto, West Bengal’s Snehasish Paul, PSPBA’s Jeho and North Bengal’s Mainik Das moved into the pre-quarterfinals. From the bottom half, only Subhra Jyoti Paul (North Bengal) and Tamil Nadu’s Kushagra Verma struggled before making the grade.

In Cadet Girls, Tamil Nadu’s V. Vaishnavi passed the test 6-11, 14-12, 11-8, 11-7 after some tough fight against West Bengal’s Koushiki Dasgupta. In another four-setter, Neha Kumari of North Bengal defeated Suhana Saini of Haryana 6-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-7.  Shereya Ghosh of West Bengal too was stretched by Aditi Sinha of Maharashtra A which the former won 13-11, 12-10, 10-12, 14-12. In the bottom half, West Bengal’s Munmum Kundu, Maharashtra A’s Neeha Gupta and Delhi’s Vanshika Bhargava were taken to the full distance by their opponents.

All quarterfinal matches will be played tonight with only the semifinals and finals slated for the last day tomorrow. 

A TTFI Press release