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