Amalraj champion again, Manika wears maiden crown

Hyderabad, January 10, 2016: Anthony Amalraj emerged the men’s singles winner for the second but his opponent and a second-time finalist, G. Sathiyan, was not as lucky and he went down 2-3 in the final of the 77th Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships at the Kotla Vijay Bhaskara Reddy Indoor Stadium here today.

Just 40 minutes before that, PSPB’s Manika Batra created history winning her maiden women’s title, beating another new entrant in final, Pooja Sahasrabuddhle, also of PSPB.

If Amalraj was in a zone of his own, Sathiyan was not lagging behind. But what made the ultimate difference was Amalraj played percentage game, driving well and executing his shots with pin-pointed precision. On the other hand, Sathiyan seemed to be playing under enormous pressure and it was telling on his play.

The fortune of pendulum kept swinging with both players taking the alternate sets. But the fifth game changed it all when Amalraj ran off with a quick lead and mounting pressure on his rival. Sathiyan, despite taking time-off for a quick consultation with his coach and former national champion S. Raman, things did not go his way.

Once Amalraj had made it 3-2, it was just a matter of time for him before pulling the shutters down on Sathiyan. As is his practice, Amalraj let out a big blurt in celebration and kept himself to a limit this time before lifting the Maharaja Pithapuram Cup and taking home the Rs. 2.2 lakh prize money.

Nerve-wrecker

Nobody deserved to lose this nerve-wracking final. After all, both Manika Batra and Pooja Sahasrabuddhe were playing their maiden final with the obvious aim. Today, luck was on Manika’s side—both players missed two title-points each—as she sent a power-packed forehand to the extreme right of Pooja to her bewilderment. She tried hard to reach for the ball even as it swerved from its path and out of Pooja’s reach.

Manika let out a weak cry and raised her arms up in jubilation even as her Coach Sandeep Gupta wiped the tears rolling down his eyes and stood up to welcome his student. A gentle pat on her back and a small hug conveyed a million worlds from him.

Coming to the match, when Manika took the first set it looked things were going one way. But Pooja changed the course and kept her very much in the reckoning until the last point.

Fortunes fluctuated from one extreme to another and a guess was always hazarduous. Manika was 7-5 up but went 7-8 down in the decider. From there, she grew in confidence and attacked to pick two more points. At 10-8, she served twice for the title point but Pooja saved both for a deuce. With the service back with her, Pooja went 11-10 up and squandered her first match point. Against at 12-11, Manika saved one more. And that signified, for the second time, the Travancore Cup and the winner’s purse of Rs. 1.3 lakh slipping of her hands. Pooja, however, will go home with just half the amount.

“A great relief and am very happy to have won a senior title,” said Manika in a choked voice.

Sharath disappoints

Yet again Sharath Kamal bowed out in the semifinals and this time without a fight against G. Sathiyan. What was disappointing was the way the six-time national champion and the top seed here surrendered. Except for the opening game, Sharath led comfortably in every subsequent set—6-3, 6-2 and 6-0. Probably, his heart was willing for another fight back but not the body.

Sharath may have been in some discomfiture and that was very much evident because he was unable to move well and reach the ball. On the other hand, Sathiyan was growing in confidence with astonishing winner seven as Sharath dropped his guard. Every time he took the lead, he found Sathiyan making his way up and go over his rival.

Incidentally, this was Sathiyan’s second consecutive final entry. For Sharath, his last singles title came at Kolkata in 2010 and twice he had finished runner-up to Amalraj at Lucknow (2011) and Soumyajit Ghosh at Raipur (2012).

The 4-0 win would have provided Sathiyan another good platform to go for his maiden title which he missed at Pudhucherry last year, but his opponent Amalraj was even better when he dethroned national champion Soumyajit Ghosh with a 4-1 verdict.

Ghosh was blunted from the word go as Amalraj played brilliantly and did not yield even an inch to the defending champion.  What made the semifinal more interesting was the fast-paced game the two played with a lot of good rallies and brilliant winners.  In fact, some of those shots from both hissed past the edge of the table, keeping their fans on real tenterhooks.

In women’s semifinals, No. 1 Manika Batra blanked out Krittwika Sinha Roy in less than 25 minutes while Pooja Sahasrabuddhe had to bring out her best against the resolute Madhurika Patkar. However, the second named was unable to repeat her quarterfinal performance when she beat top-seed Mouma Das last evening. Yet, Madhurika tried to stage a comeback but Pooja never allowed her to close in.

West Bengal’s double

Results:

Men’s Singles: Final: Anthony Amalraj (PSPB_ bt G. Sathiyan (PSPB) 4-2 (11-5, 7-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-4, 11-9); Semifinals: G. Sathiyan (PSPB) bt A. Sharath Kamal 4-0 (12-10, 11-8, 11-8, 11-3), Anthony Amalraj (PSPB) bt Soumyajit Ghosh (PSPB) 4-1 (11-6, 11-5, 5-11, 11-7, 13-11).  

Doubles: Final: Abhishek Yadav/Sudhanshu Grover (Raj) bt Arjun  Ghosh/Anirban Ghosh (WB) 3-0 (11-4, 11-9,11-9); Semifinals: Abhishek Yadav/Sudhanshu Grover (Raj) bt Nithin Thiruvengadam (CB)/Sourav Saha (PSPB) 11-9, 11-6, 11-2, Arjun  Ghosh/Anirban Ghosh (WB) bt Ravindra Kotiyan/Omkar Torgalkar (RSPB) 3-1 (11-9, 8-11, 11-9, 14-12).

Women’s Singles: Final: Manika Batra (PSPB) bt Pooja Sahasrabuddhe (PSPB) 4-3 (11-3, 8-11, 11-8, 3-11, 11-7, 7-11, 14-12); Semifinals: Manika Batra (PSPB) bt Krittwika Sinha Roy (WB) 4-0 (11-7, 11-5, 11-9, 11-7), Pooja Sahasrabuddhe (PSPB) bt Madhurika Patkar (Mah) 4-2 (8-11, 11-6, 11-9, 8-11, 12-10, 11-7).

Doubles: Final: Krittwika Sinha Roy/Mousumi Paul (WB) bt Mouma Das/K. Shamini (PSPB) 3-2 (13-11, 7-11, 9-11, 11-8, 12-10); Semifinals: Mouma Das/K.Shamani (PSPB) bt Seraha Jocob/Maria Rony (KRL) 11-5, 11-8, 11-6, Mousmi Paul /Krittwika Sinha Roy (WB) bt Divya Deshpande/Madhurika Patkar (Mah) 8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8.

TTFI Press release

Pressure pulls national champ Mouma down

Hyderabad, January 9, 2016: The pressure of selection for the Olympic qualifiers was writ large on the faces of even the most experienced as second-seeded Mouma Das and No. 5 Ankita Das crashed out in the women’s singles quarterfinals to join those fell by the wayside in earlier rounds of the 77th Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships at the Kotla Vijay Bhaskara Reddy Indoor Stadium here today.

Top-seeded Manika Batra beat West Bengal’s Mousumi Paul 4-2 after some initial struggle for a semifinal meeting with Krittwika Sinha Roy.

In the third quarterfinal, Mouma despite picking herself up went down to seventh-seed Madhurika Patkar 3-4 and with that her ambition of retaining the national title she won last year at Pudhucherry. Sixth seed Pooja managed to stop Tamil Nadu’s Reeth Rishya on her tracks to win 4-3 in the last quarterfinal.

With selectors watching the proceedings, there were quite a few nervy moments for the country’s top paddlers in both the sections. But the worst sufferers were, undoubtedly, the weak-hearted ones as they went about committing far too many unforced errors in their anxiety to overcome their rivals. This, invariably, resulted in their best shots deserving at the crucial junctures—Mouma depended more on her backhand than the blistering forehand drives—and Reeth, cool and calm until the quarters, goofed it up in a role reversal. Pooja kept her cool and exploited her opponent’s weak points to go through to the semifinal where she will take on her Maharashtra rival Madhurika.

In men’s quarters, top-seeded Achanta Sharath Kamal steamrolled Maharashtra’s Sanil Shetty 4-1 and Sathiyan sent fourth-seed Harmeet Desai packing for a 4-3 verdict while third-seeded Soumyajit Ghosh was taken the full distance by Subhajit Saha before the former won 4-3 and in the last quarterfinal No. 2 seed Anthony Amalraj, after being 3-0 up, was stretched to a 4-2 score by Haryana’s Jubin Kumar.

Earlier, Harmeet Desai and Pooja Sahasrabuddhe of Petroleum combined well in the final to beat the West Bengal pair of Ronit Bhanja and Ayhika Mukherjee 3-1 to lift the mixed doubles trophy.

Results:

Men’s Singles: Quarterfinals: Sharath Kamal (PSPB) bt Sanil Shetty (Mah) 4-1 (5-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-8, 11-7), G. Sathiyan (PSPB) bt Harmeet Desai (PSPB) 4-3 (13-11, 2-11, 10-12, 11-1, 10-12, 11-3, 11-6), Soumyajit Ghosh (PSPB) bt Subhajit Saha (PSPB) 4-3 (11-3, 11-5, 9-11, 11-8, 9-11, 9-11, 11-8), Anthony Amalraj (PSPB) bt Jubin Kumar (Har) 4-2 (11-5, 11-7, 14-12, 10-12, 9-11, 11-5).

Women’s Singles: Quarterfinals: Manika Batra (PSPB) bt Mousumi Paul (WB) 4-2 (8-11, 11-6, 11-4, 15-13, 11-13, 11-4), Krittwika Sinha Roy (WB) bt Ankita Das (PSPB) 4-2 (11-9, 5-11, 11-9, 13-11, 5-11, 11-2), Pooja Sahasrabuddhe (PSPB) bt Reeth Rishya (TN) 4-3 (7-11, 11-8, 5-11, 7-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-4), Madhurika Patkar (Mah) bt Mouma Das (PSPB) 4-3 (8-11, 11-2, 11-5, 8-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-2).

Mixed Doubles: Final: Harmeet Desai/Pooja Sahasrabuddhe (PSPB) bt Ronit Bhanja/Ayhika Mukherjee (WB) 3-1 (11-7, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7).

TTFI  Press release

Top men seeds sprout, but women wither early

Hyderabad, January 9, 2016: Fifth seed G. Sathiyan had to bright out his best against Haryana’s Sarthak Gandhi to enter the men’s singles quarterfinals in the 77th Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships at the Kotla Vijay Bhaskara Reddy Indoor Stadium here today.

The PSPB paddler won 4-2 but sixth and seven-seeded Devesh Karia of Gujarat and Rajasthan’s Sudhanshu Grover, respectively, made their exit in the pre-quarterfinals. Haryana’s Jubin Kumar accounted for Grover with a 4-1 verdict while PSPB’s Subhajit Saha thumped Karia 4-0.

Sathiyan had a dream start to lead 2-0 before Sarthak staged his comeback in the third extended game after four deuces. The Haryana lad won 16-4 but Sathiyan was quick enough to gather himself soon enough to go 3-1 up. Yet, Sarthak did not give up and managed yet another set off his rival before Sathiyan closed the shop on him. Jubin, on the other hand, cashed in on his roaring form to outsmart his PSPB rival Grover despite the latter managing to take a game off him. Others, including top-seeded Sharath Kamal, No. 2 Anthony Amalraj, No. 3 Soumyajit Ghosh, No. 4 Harmeet Desai and eight-seed Sanil Shetty entered the last-eight stages easily.

Struggle for Manika  

Top-seed Manika Batra was ill-at-ease right from the word go against Maharashtra’s Senhora D’Souza and the trouble for her continued until the decider. At one time, the Maharashtra girl was 3-1 up and an upset was very much on cards. Yet the gritty Manika, despite going into a shell, suddenly opened out to send Senhora scurrying for points. It was providence that Manika escaped several unforced errors in each game to take it to the decider.

In the decider, too, she was up 5-3 when they changed sides. But Senhora fought bravely to square it up at 5-5 then with a slender lead both saw their chances. However, at 10-7 Manika sent one to the net but in the next opportunity seized the advantage to enter quartrfinals, much to the relief of her coach Sandeep Gupta and her mother sitting in the gallery.

Credit to Nikhat

Telangana’s Nikhat Banu and seeded eight must be given full credit for taking West Bengal’s Mousumi Paul the full distance in the pre-quarterfinals. However, Nikhat has to blame herself for not pressing the advantage when she led 3-1 and letting the West Bengal paddlers a cozy ride from a precarious position. Like Manika, Mousumi had to win the last three games and that’s where Nikhat lost her plot. In fact, after a couple of deuce she let Mousumi off the hook in the fifth game from where her rival was a transformed person as Nikhat wilted under Mousumi’s continued onslaught.

Fifth-seeded Ankita Das kept herself within reach of her RBI rival Pallabi Kundu and led 3-2. But Pallabi fought back well in the fifth game to give herself an even chance in the decider. Ankita, however, was up to the task and stopped her early to romp home winners.

Mockery of seeding

Making a mockery of the seeding, both unseeded Reeth Rishya and Krittwika Sinha Roy sent No. 3 and 4 seeds K. Shamini (PSPB) and Divya Deshpande (Mah) packing in the pre-quarters. Sixth seed Pooja Sahasrabuddhe struggled to overcome West Bengal’s Ayhika Mukherjee 4-2 and No. 7 Madhurika Patkar and No. 2 Mouma Das both had easy quarterfinal passages beating Delhi’s Neha Agarwal and RBI’s Shweta Parte, respectively, with 4-1 margins.

Shamini was not only served and returned badly but even failed to counter the normal ones that Reeth had sent back. Several errors at net only hastened the end of Shami as Reeth grew in confidence from each of her winners and of the negative points she was awarded with. Divya, too, was inconsistent with her drives against Krittwika who played far better than she did the other day in team events.   

Results:

Men’s Singles:

Pre-quarterfinals: A. Sharath Kamal bt Lalrin Puia (Miz) 4-1 (12-14, 11-8, 11-6, 11-5, 11-4), Sanil Shetty bt Sourav Saha (PSPB) 4-1 (11-5, 11-13, 11-7, 11-2, 12-10), G. Sathiyan bt Sarthak Gandhi (Har) 4-2 (12-10, 11-5, 14-16, 11-4, 11-13, 11-8), Harmeet Desai bt R. Abhishek (TN) 4-1 (11-7, 11-4, 11-7, 10-12, 11-4), Soumyajit Ghosh bt Arjun Ghosh (WB) 4-1 (11-9, 11-7, 8-11, 11-7, 11-2), Subhajit Saha bt Devesh Karia (Guj) 4-0 (11-4, 15-13, 17-15, 14-12), Jubin Kumar (Har) bt Sudhanshu Grover (Raj) 4-1 (11-5, 7-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-5), Anothony Amalraj bt Subash Mani (IAAD) 4-0 (11-9, 11-7, 14-12, 11-3).

Women’s Singles:

Pre-quarterfinals: Manika Batra bt Senhora D’souza (Mah) 4-3 (7-11, 11-5, 11-13, 4-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-8), Mousumi Paul bt Nikhat Banu (Telg) 4-3 (11-8, 8-11, 10-12, 9-11, 13-11, 11-8, 11-4), Ankita Das bt Pallabi Kundu (RBI) 4-3 (6-11, 11-4, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 5-11, 11-6), Krittwika Sinha Roy bt Divya Deshpande (Mah) 4-0 (11-4, 11-9, 11-4, 14-12), Reeth Risha bt K. Shamini (PSPB) 4-0 (12-10, 13-11, 11-8, 12-10), Pooja Sahasrabudhe bt Ayhika Mukherjee (WB) 4-2 (11-4, 10-12, 11-6, 5-11, 11-6, 11-3), Madhurika Patkar bt Neha Agarwal (Del) 4-1 (4-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-3, 11-4), Mouma Das bt Shweta Parte (RBI) 4-1 (11-13, 11-8, 11-6, 11-8, 11-8).   

TTFI release

PSPB sweep titles; silver lining for Jubin’s Haryana and West Bengal

Hyderabad, January 7, 2016: Winning is a habit and, thanks to the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board’s firepower, it has got stuck with their men since their first win at Jammu in 1997. PSPB’s men yet again lifted the Barna Ballack Cup, for the 18th occasion beating Haryana 3-1 in the 77th Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships at the Kotla Vijay Bhaskara Reddy Indoor Stadium here today.

PSPB women did an encore beating West Bengal 3-0 to retain the Jayalakshmi Cup for the 14th time overall and the second consecutive occasion after letting it slip off their hands for a year to Delhi at Raipur in 2012. PSPB women had won their first crown at Lucknow in 1999. Only once did their men lost hold on the trophy when they lost to Railways way back in 2001 at New Delhi.

Jubin’s symphony   

Jubin’s mellifluous symphony captivated everyone, both in the semifinal and the final, for the second day today. Yet, his co-orchestra performers somehow sounded phony notes in on the grand stage and that put paid to their gold-winning ambitions. Nevertheless, one cannot take the credit away from them for finishing the bride’s maid on the day.

After knocking off Soumyajit Ghosh in the opening rubber, Jubin Kumar had provided a perfect start. But Achanta Sharath Kamal, returning to the grandstand event, played true to his potential and class to account for Sarthak Gandhi. Sharath’s crisp shots, off both hands, had mesmerizing effect on young Sarthak and he threw in the towel early. Then Harmeet Desai—both Amalraj and Sathiyan were benched for the final—huffed and puffed his way to beating Mohit Verma to put PSPB 2-1 up. Then Sharath, despite being extended by Jubin in their reverse singles, did not get carried away and finished the job in style.

Sharath admitted he needed some more rest before he can return to his best form. Nevertheless, he was happy to have struck some form which helped his team win title for another year. “I am okay with my form but do feel like having rest for some more time. But I was really impressed with the way Jubin (Kumar) played. Beating Ghosh needed some guts and Jubin was too good today. He even took a set off me and all credits to Jubin,” said Sharath.

As for PSPB women, they did not have any difficult at all in putting it across West Bengal in a one-sided final. Except for Mousui Paul, who extended the full distance in the first rubber, both Mouma Das and Ankita Das routed Krittwika Sinha Roy and Anindita Chakraborty to emerge winnes for yet another time.

In men’s second semifinal, Jubin helped Haryana entered their maiden final as smoothly as possible when their team beat fancied Maharashtra 3-0. In the other match, it was rather easy for PSPB against Gujarat.

Sarthak Gandhi gave the vital lead when he beat Maharashtra’s No. 1 player Sanil Shetty 3-2 with Jubin to follow. He did not take much time in completing another fine-flowing show as Aman Balgu bowed before him and Mohit Verma downed Noel Pint by the same margin of 3-1.

Sharath toyed with Gujarat youngster Manav Thakkar before winning 3-0. Except for the third game, where Manav was allowed some extra liberty by Sharath, class Sharath in complete control. Anthony Amalraj and G. Sathiyan made even simpler by demolishing Devesh Karia and Jignesh Jaiswal, despite allowing them take a game each.

RBI’s journey complete

Reserve Bank of India’s women team was halted in its maiden trip to the nationals by title-holders PSPB who won 3-0 in the first semifinal in the morning. Only Shweta Parte managed to take two games off veteran Mouma Das in the second singles but both Manika Batra, who played the first singles, and K. Shamini, the third, showed no mercy to their opponents and whipped them in the first opportunity.

However, credit must go to RBI for ending up with only their second medal—their first came in the Inter-Institutional championships in August last at New Delhi—in so many years of participation. To a large extent, it was due to Krittwika Sinha Roy’s presence in the team last time that helped them qualify for the nationals. Since her quitting the RBI early this year, there was a question mark over RBI’s ability with only Shweta and newcomers like Kakoli and Shruti. Yet, the RBI should feel contended with the bronze as Shweta played her role to near perfection.

Runners-up West Bengal thumped Tamil Nadu 3-1 in the second semifinal despite Reeth Rishya’s good form. Expectedly, Reeth won one of her singles against Shreya Ghosh to level score but could not overcome Mousumi Paul to put up a semblance of fight after Vidya Narasimhan lost the third singles to the oldest player on the scene, Anindita Chakraborty—the Railways’ player is representing her state here. The fighter that Anindita is, she provide the 2-1 lead for West Bengal and thereafter it was left to Mousumi to complete the job.

For the next three days, it will be a hectic affair for all paddlers with the singles events, with qualification matches beginning later tonight.

Men’s Team: (Final): PSPB bt Haryana 3-1 (Soumyajit Ghosh lost to Jubin Kumar 11-6, 9-11, 12-14, 11-5, 8-11, A. Sharath Kamal bt Sarthak Gandhi 8-11, 11-4, 11-1, 11-6, Harmeet Desai bt Mohit Verma 11-9, 7-11, 11-6, 11-9, A. Sharath Kamal bt Jubin Kumar 10-12, 11-7, 11-8, 11-5). Semifinals: PSPB bt Gujarat 3-0 (Achanta Sharath Kamal bt Manav Thakkar 11-4, 11-5, 16-14, Anthony Amalraj bt Devesh Karia 11-3, 11-6, 11-13, 11-7, G. Sathiyan bt Jignesh Jaiswal 7-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-1); Haryana bt Maharashtra 3-0 (Sarthak Gandhi bt Sanil Shetty 11-7, 9-11, 11-8, 10-12, 11-9, Jubin Kumar bt Aman Balgu 9-11, 11-3, 13-11, 11-5, Mohit Verma bt Noel Pinto 11-5, 11-9, 6-11, 11-9).

Women’s Team: (Final): PSPB bt West Bengal 3-0 (Manika Batra bt Mousumi Paul 10-12, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-6, Mouma Das bt Krittwika Sinha Roy 11-7, 11-4, 11-7, Ankita Das bt Anindita Chakraborty 11-6, 12-10, 8-11, 11-5). Semifinals: PSPB bt RBI 3-0 (Manika Batra bt Kakoli Lahkar 11-9, 11-4, 13-11, Mouma Das bt Shweta Parte 7-11, 11-7, 11-3, 9-11, 11-9, K. Shamini bt Shruti Talnikar 11-8, 11-9, 11-4), West Bengal bt Tamil Nadu 3-1 (Mousumi Paul bt Amrutha Pushpak 9-11, 13-11, 12-10, 11-7, Shreya Ghosh lost to Reeth Rishya 6-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-5, 9-11, Anindita Chakraborty bt Vidya Narasimhan 13-11, 11-4, 12-10, Mousumi Paul bt Reeth Rishya 11-9, 11-6, 8-11, 11-8).

Jubin puts Haryana in semis, TN women surprise Maharashtra

Hyderabad, January 6, 2016: The Jubin Kumar-led Haryana overpowered Tamil Nadu 3-2 to sail into the semifinals of the 77th Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships at the Kotla Vijay Bhaskara Reddy Indoor Stadium here today.

Haryana were joined in the men’s semifinals by PSPB, who beat Rajasthan 3-0, Gujarat who won 3-1 against Railways and Maharashtra downed West Bengal 3-1.

It was Jubin who masterminded Haryana’s triumph as he won both his singles, paving the way for another bronze at least. Last year, too, they had claimed a team bronze but this time they are in a good position to overhaul Maharashtra who will be their opponents in the semis.

All is well that ends well may be the saying. But Jubin gave a tweak to the idiom by beginning and ending well. He started with a win over Ravichandran Abhishek in a tough opening rubber which was carried on nicely by Sarthak Gandhi. But Tamil Nadu really fought back well to restore order through L. Sathiswaran and R. Abhishek, in his reverse singles when they accounted for both Mohit Verma and Sarthak Gandhi, respectively.

The ball was back in Jubin’s court and the tall Sushmit was equally up to the task, taking his opponent down to wire. But the let-handed Jubin not only worked on his angles well but executed superb combination play to overcome Sushmit in the crucial fifth rubber.

TN women’s minor ripples

Though the quarterfinals in women’s section went along the line for most part, Tamil Nadu gave a twist to the tale to beat last year’s semifinalist Maharashtra A 3-1, thanks to the heroics of Reeth Rishya who, despite pulling her thigh muscle, put her team to the medal reckoning.   

Unable to find a place in PSPB squad, Reeth had to play for her state and Tamil Nadu gained through her entry today. Taking on a higher-ranked Divya Deshpande, who was spearheading Maharashtra’s campaign, Reeth played a gutsy game, particularly in the decider. She was down 10-7 in the fifth game against Divya but ignoring her pain the diminutive paddler put her best foot forward and deuced. After two more, Reeth cashed in on her first match point and won 14-12 to put Tamil Nadu up.

However, Madhurika Patkar did not have to sweat it out against Amrutha Pushpak and restored parity. The crucial third game went the Tamil Nadu way when Vidya Narasimha shut out Charvi Kawle after some struggle to win 3-2. Now the matter rested on Reeth and she surprisingly finished off her reverse singles against Madhurika quickly and deservingly.

Earlier, PSPB defeted Madhya Pradesh 3-0, Reserve Bank of India, keeping their well-deserved entry into the nationals intact, defeated North Bengal 3-1 with Sheweta Parte shouldering the burden of winning both her singles. Karnataka became an easy prey to last year’s runners-up West Bengal, who won 3-0.

Earlier in the day, both Telangana teams bowed out in the pre-quarterfinals as North Bengal girls went down 1-3 to North Bengal while Gujarat’s men beat Talanga men 3-0.

Men’s Team (Quarterfinals): PSPB bt Rajasthan 3-0 (Soumyajit Ghosh bt Abhishek Yadav 11-6, 5-11, 12-10, 11-6, G. Sathiyan bt Sudhanshu Grover 11-4, 8-11, 14-12, 11-3, Anthony Amalraj bt Pankaj Kumr 11-2, 11-5, 11-4), Gujarat bt RSPB 3-1 (Devesh Karia bt Ravindra Kotiyan 11-4, 11-8, 11-3, Manav Thakkar lost to Anirban Nandi 2-11, 11-7, 6-11, 2-11, Jignesh Jaiswal bt Omkar Torgalkar 10-12, 12-10, 11-4, 13-15, 13-11, Devesh Karia bt Anirban Nandi 11-3, 7-11, 13-11, 11-6), Haryana bt Tamil Nadu 3-2 (Jubin Kumar bt R. Abhishek 11-6, 6-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-4, Sarthak Gandhi bt Sushmit Sriram 11-4, 11-7, 11-9, Mohit Verma lost to L. Sathiswaran 6-11, 8-11, 6-11, Sarthak Gandhi lost to R. Abhishek 11-9, 11-8, 7-11, 5-11, 7-11, Jubin Kumar bt Sushmit Sriram 11-2, 11-5, 5-11, 6-11, 11-8), Maharashtra A bt West Bengal 3-1 (Sanil Shetty bt Anirban Ghosh 11-6, 7-11, 11-3, 11-3, Sanish Ambekar lost to Arjun Ghosh 10-12, 10-12, 6-11, Aman Balgu bt Ronit Bhanja 11-6, 11-9, 11-7, Sanil Shetty bt Arjun Ghosh 6-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-5, 11-7). 

PQF: PSPB bt Andhra Pradesh 3-0, Rajasthan bt Delhi 3-0, RSPB bt Uttar Pradesh 3-0, Gujarat bt Telangana 3-0, Haryana bt Mozoram 3-1, Tamil Nadu bt Punjab 3-0, Maharashtra-A bt Maharashtra-B 3-1, West Bengal bt North Bengal 3-0.

Women’s Team (Quarterfinals): PSPB bt Madhya Pradesh 3-0 (Mouma Das bt Himani Bhatt 11-7, 11-6, 11-9, Ankita Das bt Anusha Kutumbale 13-15, 11-7, 12-14, 11-6, 12-10, Pooja Sahasrabudhe bt Vandana Singh 1-3, 11-6, 11-5); RBI bt North Bengal 3-1 (Talnikar Shruti lost to Takeme Sarkar 7-11, 9-11, 5-11, Shwetha Parte bt Sagarika Mukherjee 8-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-4, Lahkar Kakoli bt Sukanya Bose 11-4, 13-11, 24-22, Shweta Parte bt Takeme Sarkar 8-11, 14-12, 7-11, 11-8, 11-6), Tamil Nadu bt Maharashtra-A 3-1 (Reeth Rishya bt Divya Deshpande 11-9, 5-11, 10-12, 11-9, 14-12, Amrutha Pushpak lost to Madhurika Patkar 10-12, 12-10, 5-11, 5-11, Vidya Narasimhan bt Charvi Kawle 5-11, 11-6, 11-8, 12-14, 11-8, Reeth Rishya bt Madhurika Patkar 11-9, 11-6, 13-11) , West Bengal bt Karnataka  3-0 (Mousumi Paul bt Archana Kamath 11-5, 11-5, 5-11, 14-12, Krittwika Sinha Roy bt Swetha Kumaravel 11-7, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9, Ayhika Mukherjee bt Spoorthi Venkatesham 11-5, 11-5, 11-5); PQF: PSPB bt Andhra Pradesh 3-0, Madhya Pradesh bt Maharashtra-B 3-2, North Bengal bt Telangana 3-1, RBI bt Odisha 3-0, Maharashtra-A bt Pondicherry 3-0, Tamil Nadu bt Delhi 3-1, Karnataka bt Rajasthan 3-0, West Bengal bt Gujarat 3-0.

TTFI Press release 

Tough for Telangana, AP women; Maharashtra make a scene

Hyderabad, January 5, 2016: There is nothing called an easy or a tough draw when there are 16 top teams that make the cut for the team events’ pre-quarterfinals of a national event.

Following the group qualification matches in the 77th Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships at the Kotla Vijay Bhaskara Reddy Indoor Stadium here this evening, some teams got reasonably lucky while others somewhat uneasy. Yet, the gritty teams always ignore caginess and move ahead.

And that’s what the Telangana women will have to do tomorrow after their evening was spoilt when they drew North Bengal to play the pre-quarterfinals. No doubt, it is going to be a tough ask for the hosts against an experienced line-up that has Sagarika Mukherjee, Sukanya Bose, Takeme Sarkar and Anuska Dutta. The foursome is good enough to steamroll the best in business, unless, of course, Nikhat Banu with three juniors—Varuni Jaiswal, Sreeja Akula and Naina—for company manage to outwit them.

So was the case with Andhra Pradesh, who drew title-holders and top-seed PSPB, Madhya Pradesh drew a tough Maharashtra B and Odisha found pitted against RBI in the top half. As for the bottom half, Pondicherry will run into Maharashtra A, Delhi will face Tamil Nadu, Karnataka will take on Rajasthan and Gujarat the second-seeded West Bengal.

In men’s draw, two Maharashtra teams and two Bengal teams were drawn against each other in the bottom half with one set of team making a hue cry. In open draws, these things do happen but Maharashtra A team coach Mahendra Chiplunkar almost created a scene and refused to sign the draw sheet. However, the Bengal teams were modest enough to accept their fate. In other bottom half pairings, Haryana will play Mizoram, Punjab will meet Tamil Nadu.

In the top-half pre-quarterfinals draw, PSPB will meet Andhra Pradesh, Delhi will take on Rajasthan, RSPB will meet UP and Telangana will face Gujarat. 

TTFI Press release

Telangana women march ahead of their men to enter PQF

Hyderabad, January 5, 2016: : Seven out of eight group toppers in the men’s section and six in women’s category have moved into the team events pre-quarterfinals of the 77th Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships at the Kotla Vijay Bhaskara Reddy Indoor Stadium here today.

The men’s teams that have moved into the second stage knockout phase include Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB), West Bengal, Gujarat, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) while a good battle is brewing between Delhi and Maharashtra A in group G for the top slot. A clear picture will emerge only after the third round matches get over tonight. But one expects both Delhi and Maharashtra A to enter the knockout stage.

As for the women’s affair, PSPB, West Bengal, Maharashtra A, Reserve Bank of India, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have moved into the last 16 stages and await another team from group E as its leader and other second-placed teams from each group.

However, one cannot rule out the possibility of a three-way tie in group H where Tamil Nadu, Kerala and North Bengal are pitted against one another, having one-win-one-loss equations.  

In what was a minor ripple caused in Group E, Maharashtra B team defeated Delhi 3-0 in the first round and could emerge as the No. 1 team from the group. But it may not prevent Delhi women from entering the pre-quarters as the second team as they are expected to beat a weak Tripura and qualify.

But there was something to cheer for the hosts as their women’s squad, comprising Nikhat Banu, Varuni Jaiswal and Sreeja Akula, made every one sit up and watch them book their pre-quartrfinal berth. But their men’s squad, which lost their match to West Bengal 0-3, faces Uttarakhand next in a three-team group—Pondicherry has pulled out at the last minute—and the hosts must win to qualify. In other words, if Uttarakhand manage to beat Telangana, the former would walk in. That is a real tricky situation for the hosts’ team.

On the other hand, Telangana’s women’s team did not stretch it too far. Posting their first authoritative 3-0 win over Uttar Pradesh, they took on a problematic Gujajrat in the second round of the group match.

Varuni did not provide a good start when she went down to Guajrat’s No. 1 player Frenaz Chipia 9-11, 11-7, 9-11, 5-11, but the experienced Nikhat Banu, who got a recent Chennai posting as IT inspector, restored Telangana’s pride to level the score with a 8-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-6, 11-9 triumph over Gohil Divyaba.

Then it was left to Sreeja Akula, the highly-talented junior girl, to take it on from there to give the hosts a head start as they went 2-0 up. Sreeja beat Nirja Trivedi in a thrilling see-saw rubber 13-11, 7-11, 11-6, 11-13, 11-8. Nikhat, playing her reverse singles, again saw to it that Telangana had a hassle-free pre-quarterfinal entry. She beat Frenaz in straight games of 11-7, 11-9, 11-3.

Earlier in a first round battle in group H, Kerala upset Tamil Nadu 3-2 despite the latter having a bundle of experience in Reeth Rishya, Amrutha Pushpak and Vidhya. But the Tamil Nadu women evened the loss out with a shock 3-0 win over North Bengal. If the NB women beat Kerala, the matter will be sealed for the latter as both Tamil Nadu and North Bengal will qualify from the group.

Brief Results:

Men’s Team (1st Stage):

Group – A: PSPB bt Odisha 3-0, Maharashtra-B  bt  Jammu & Kashmir 3-0; PSPB bt Maharashtra-B 3-0, Odisha bt Jammu & Kashmir 3-0.

Group – B: West Bengal bt Uttarakhand 3-0, West Bengal bt Telangana 3-0.

Group – C: Gujarat bt Chhattisgarh 3-0, North Bengal bt Goa 3-0; Gujarat bt North Bengal 3-0, Chhattisgarh bt Goa 3-2.

Group – D: Haryana bt Uttar Pradesh 3-0, Kerala bt Meghalaya 3-0; Haryana bt Kerala 3-0, Uttar Pradesh bt Meghalaya 3-0.

Group – E: Tamil Nadu bt Andhra Pradesh 3-0, Himachal Pradesh bt Jharkhand 3-1; Tamil Nadu bt Himachal Pradesh 3-0, Andhra Pradesh bt Jharkhand 3-1.

Group – F: Rajasthan bt Mizoram 3-0, Karnataka bt Tripura 3-0; Mizoram bt Tripura 3-0, Rajasthan bt Karnataka 3-0.

Group – G: Delhi bt Chandigarh 3-0, Chandigarh bt Bihar 3-0, Maharashtra-A bt Delhi 3-0.

Group – H: RSPB bt Madhya Pradesh 3-0, Assam Bt Punjab 3-2; RSPB bt Assam 3-1, Punjab bt Madhya Pradesh 3-1.

Women’s Team (1st Stage):

Group – A: PSPB bt Jharkhand 3-0, PSPB bt Pondicherry 3-0.

Group – B: West Bengal bt Bihar 3-0, West Bengal bt Odisha 3-0.

Group – C: Maharashtra-A bt Madhya Pradesh 3-1, Assam bt Meghallaya 3-0; Maharashtra-B bt Assam 3-0, Madhya Pradesh bt Meghalaya 3-0.  

Group – D: RBI bt Rajasthan 3-1, Haryana bt Goa 3-0, RBI bt Haryana 3-0, Rajasthan bt Goa 3-0.

Group – E: Maharashtra-B bt Tripura 3-0, Delhi bt Punjab 3-0; Maharashtra-B bt Delhi 3-1, Punjab bt Tripura 3-0.

Group – F: Telangana bt Uttar Pradesh 3-0, Gujarat bt Himachal Pradesh 3-0; Telangana bt Gujarat 3-1, Uttar Pradesh bt Himachal Pradesh 3-0.

Group – G: Karnataka bt Chandigarh 3-0, Andhra Pradesh bt Uttarakhand 3-0; Karnataka bt Andhra Pradesh 3-0, Chandigarh bt Uttarakhand 3-0.

Group – H: North Bengal bt Chattisgarh 3-0, Kerala bt Tamil Nadu 3-2; Tamil Nadu bt North Bengal 3-0, Kerala bt Chhattisgarh 3-0.

TTFI Press release