Friday, December 27, 2013

West Bengal, PSPBA strike a barter deal

Ajmer, December 26, 2013: In a give-and-take bargain, West Bengal and Petroleum Sports Promotion Board Academy bartered titles in two events while in another North Bengal surprised West Bengal to win the crown. Yet, West Bengal laid their claim on two of the four titles in the ONGC Cadet and Sub-Junior National Table Tennis Championships here at the MC Chowhan Indoor Stadium today.

PSPB Academy, who lost the Cadet Boys title 2-3 to West Bengal in the fires session of the finals, reclaimed the Sub-Junior Boys crown from the latter in the second with a 3-2 win. Earlier, West Bengal had won the sub-junior girls’ crown, beating Tamil Nadu 3-1 only to lose both the finals in the second session. PSPBA won 3-2 and North Bengal triumphed by the same margin.

In the sub-junior boys’ final, Manav Thakkar of the Academy was the star as he, apart from winning his two singles, combined well with Anukram Jain in the doubles against West Bengal’s pair of Akash Choudhary and Jeeth Chandra, which made the real difference.

Similarly, the doubles was West Bengal’s Achilles’ heel yet again as the North Bengal pair of Neha Kumari and Diksha Biswas won the crucial match against Koushiki Das Gupta and Tulika Roy. In the ultimately analysis, this win proved to be crucial for North Bengal.

PSPAB lose title
Earlier, West Bengal defeated PSPBA 3-2 with Avijit Basu doing the star turn for his team as he won both his singles, which eventually put the issue beyond PSPBA. He won his first match 3-1 against Alberto and Rohan Ghosh provided West Bengal a 2-0 lead. But the Academy duo of Jeho and Alberto first won their doubles 3-1 and Alberto restored parity by winning his singles against Ghosh. However, their celebrations lasted hardly for 15 minutes as Basu outclassed Jeho 3-0 to wrest the title from the Academy.

The West Bengal girls in the sub-junior section did not have to sweat it out much despite Tamil Nadu’s Abhinaya Ramesh and Yashini putting up a brave front. The two played well, but only in patches as West Bengal’s Koushani Nath and Moumita Dutta warded off all possible threats from their rivals.

In the semifinals, West Bengal boys defeated Uttar Pradesh 3-1 while PSPB Academy overcame a determined North Bengal 3-2 in the sub-junior section. In the quarterfinals, the boys from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam, who gave PSPBA a real run for their money, bowed out of the contest. As for the girls, Tamil Nadu trounced Andhra Pradesh 3-1 and West Bengal outwitted Maharashtra A 3-2 in a thrilling match.
In Cadet Boys, PSPBA blanked out North Bengal 3-0 in the semifinals to earn a final meeting with West Bengal, who downed Maharashtra A 3-1.

In Cadet Girls, North Bengal overcame a stiff semifinal resistance from Andhra Pradesh to enter the final on a 3-2 verdict in the morning. From the top-half, it was West Bengal who notched up a 3-2 win over Tamil Nadu. It must be said to the credit for the Tamil Nadu girls who put up a great show only to end on the losing side.

Reporting sick!
Meanwhile, two sub-junior boys Zedan Gogoi of PSPBA and Asif Khan of Rajasthan, who were under the overage scanner, pulled out of the championships citing medical reasons. Surprisingly, both reported sick even as they were considered for medical tests by the TTFI. However, a boy each from Assam, Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka were randomly picked on Thursday and sent for medical tests.  

Results (all finals):
Cadet Boys: West Bengal bt PSPB Academy 3-2 (Avijit Basu bt Alberto 11-8, 11-3, 6-11, 11-9, Rohan Ghosh bt Jeho 11-9, 11-6, 11-8, Basu/Ghosh lost to Alberto/Jeho 5-11, 11-8, 5-11, 10-12, Rohan Ghosh lost to Alberto 13-15, 9-11, 6-11, Avijit Basu bt Jeho 11-5, 13-11, 11-6).
Cadet Girls: North Bengal bt West Bengal 3-2 (Neha Kumari btg Koushiki Dasgupta 11-6, 11-4, 6-11, 11-5, Diksha Biswas lost to Tulika Roy 7-11, 7-11, 5-11, Neha/Diksha bt Koushiki/Tulika 11-6, 11-6, 11-4, Neha Kumari bt Tulika Roy 8-11, 15-17, 8-11, Diksha Biswas bt Koushiki Dasgupta 11-9, 11-9, 7-11, 11-9).

Sub-Junior Boys: PSPBA bt West Bengal 3-1 (Manav Thakkar bt Akash Choudhary 11-9, 11-8, 11-5, Anukram Jain lost to Jeeth Chandra 11-6, 4-11, 9-11, 8-11, Manav/Anukram bt Akash/Jeeth 11-9, 4-11, 11-3, 11-6, Manav Thakkar bt Jeeth Chandra 11-6, 11-9, 11-7).

Sub-Junior Girls: West Bengal bt Tamil Nadu 3-1 (Koushani Nath lost to Abhinaya R. 5-11, 12-10, 7-11, 8-11, Moumita Dutta bt Yashini S. 14-12, 12-10, 13-11, Koushani/Moumita bt Abhinaya/Yashini 11-6, 5-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-5, Moumita Dutta bt Abhinaya R. 11-9, 11-7, 11-7).

A TTFI Press release

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