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TN women send defending champions PSPB packing

Jammu: Yashini Sivashankar of Tamil Nadu must have got up from the right side of the bed this morning. For, she did the star turn twice over–in the quarterfinals and the semis–to put her side in the final of the 84th UTT Inter-State National Table Tennis Championships at the Gymnasium Hall of Jammu University here today.

In doing so, she must have had the best satisfaction of her career when she beat the top-ranked Indian in the world at No. 35 and former national champion Manika Batra in straight games for a 3-1 triumph in the semi-finals.

Earlier, the rot began with Kowshika Ventakesan putting it across Manika and providing a confidence-boosting beginning for Tamil Nadu. Yashini defeated Reeth Rishya 3-2 to consolidate their lead before Archana Kamath pulled one down. Yet, Yashini drove the final nail in the defending champions’ coffin, leaving them to lick their wounds.

PSPB did not require the services of A. Sharath Kamal as Manav Thakkar, G. Sathiyan and Harmeet Desai took their team to the final, posting a 3-0 win over Delhi. Manav thumped Payas 11-9, 11-4, 11-5, Sathiyan defeated Sudhanshu Grover 11-6, 11-8, 8-11, 11-1 and Harmeet, who lost his tie in the quarterfinals to Jeet Chandra of West Bengal, made amends against Yashansh Malik of Delhi to win 7-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-3.

PSPB will clash in tomorrow’s final against Railways, the runners-up, who beat Telangana 3-2 in the second semis. SFR Snehit’s heroics apart, there was nothing for Telangana to rave about. The lanky Snehit won both his singles against Anirban Ghosh and Ronit Bhanja. But Mohammad Ali and Vansh Singhal failed to match up with the experienced Ronit Bhanja and Anirban Ghosh.

RBI’s Akula Sreeja, who led 2-0, allowed Lakshita Narang to come back and sting her with 5-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-4 win to put Delhi 1-0 up. But RBI withstood the pain as Ayhika Mukherjee and Diya Chitale beat their rivals Vanshika Bhargava (3-1) and Tamanna Saini (3-0) to bring their side back on the rails. Sreeja, in her reverse singles, paid back to down Vanshika 11-6, 11-9, 11-7 to put RBI in the final. They will clash in the title round with Tamil Nadu tomorrow.

PSPB did not require the services of A. Sharath Kamal as Manav Thakkar, G. Sathiyan and Harmeet Desai took their team to the final, posting a 3-0 win over Delhi. Manav thumped Payas 11-9, 11-4, 11-5, Sathiyan defeated Sudhanshu Grover 11-6, 11-8, 8-11, 11-1 and Harmeet, who lost his tie in the quarterfinals to Jeet Chandra of West Bengal, made amends against Yashansh Malik of Delhi to win 7-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-3.

PSPB will clash in tomorrow’s final against….

RBI’s Akula Sreeja, who led 2-0, allowed Lakshita Narang to come back and sting her with 5-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-4 win to put Delhi 1-0 up. But RBI withstood the pain as Ayhika Mukherjee and Diya Chitale beat their rivals Vanshika Bhargava (3-1) and Tamanna Saini (3-0) to bring their side back on the rails. Sreeja, in her reverse singles, paid back to down Vanshika 11-6, 11-9, 11-7 to put RBI in the final.

They will….

Tamil Nadu women fought till the last and emerged as worthy winners to enter the semi-finals of the 84th UTT Inter-State National Table Tennis Championships at the Gymnasium Hall of Jammu University here today.

The other teams that joined them in the semi-finals included RBI, PSPB and Delhi.

The quarterfinal between Tamil Nadu and West Bengal finished five minutes short of four hours. At the end of the match, Tamil Nadu turned the tables on West Bengal 3-2 to ensure a bronze medal for the squad. In doing so, Yashini Shivashankar played a stellar role and won both her singles, giving Tamil Nadu the edge. Incidentally, Yashini is the only surviving player and represented her state in the last Nationals in Shillong, where the state finished with bronze medals.

West Bengal women, who ended up with the bronze, bowed out without a medal after their star player and former national champion, Sutirtha Mukherjee, failed against Yashini in their second singles. That proved to be West Bengal’s Achilles heel, as Kowshika Venkatesan beat Moumita Datta 3-1 to wrap it up for the southern state.

Sutirtha put WB up when she beat Kowshika 3-1, but Yashini restored parity when she downed Moumita Datta 11-8, 5-11, 5-11, 15-13, 11-9. Kavyashree was well set to put TN ahead but lost an intense tie 11-8, 5-11, 12-10, 16-18, 8-11 to Prapti Sen. That was when Yashini played her part, beating Sutirtha 8-11, 5-11, 13-11, 11-9, 12-10, after trailing 0-2 in the fourth rubber. Kaushika, in the crucial last rubber, led 2-0 but dropped a game against Moumita. Soon, she changed her strategy and attacked at the first opportunity to accumulate her points and stopped Moumita well short in the fourth game.

But for the lone knockout match, RBI beat Haryana, and PSPB downed Madhya Pradesh 3-0, respectively, while Delhi defeated last year’s runners-up Maharashtra 3-1 to enter the medal rounds. The onus was on Swastika Ghosh and Taneesha Kotecha to put it across Delhi. But Swastika lost both her singles, first to Lakshika Narang 12-14, 7-11, 11-9, 15-13, 5-11, and to Vanshika Bhargava in straight games, killing whatever ambitions they nurtured before the match. Vanshika came to herself in the quarters and won her singles against Shruti Amrute 10-12, 11-6, 11-7, 9-11, 11-8, before accounting for Swastika 11-9, 12-10, 12-10.

In the men’s quarterfinals, runners-up Railways sent Meghalaya Nationals silver medallists Maharashtra packing with a 3-1 verdict, defending champions PSPB beat West Bengal 3-1, Delhi thrashed UP 3-0, and Telangana ousted Haryana 3-0 to enter the semi-finals.

Later in the afternoon, the Lt. Governor of Jammu and Kashmir UT, Manoj Sinha, felicitated nine paddlers, which included the Padma Shri, Khel Ratna, Arjuna and Dronacharya awardees, at a glittering function, presenting them with shawls and mementoes.

Results (Team Events):

Men: Semi-finals: PSPB bt Delhi 3-0 (Manav Thakkar bt Payas Jain 11-9, 11-4, 11-5; G. Sathiyan bt Sudhanshu Grover 11-6, 11-8, 8-11, 11-1; Harmeet Desai bt Yashansh Malik 7-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-3); RSPB bt Telangana 3-2 (Ronit Bhanja bt Mohammed Ali 11-5, 6-11, 11-4, 11-7; Anirban Ghosh lost to SFR Snehit 9-11, 5-11, 12-10, 11-7, 5-11; Akash pal bt Vansh Singhal 12-10, 11-8, 11-5; Ronit Bhanja lost to SFR Snehit 9-11, 3-11, 8-11; Anirban Ghosh bt Mohammed Ali 11-5, 11-9, 11-9).

Quarterfinals: PSPB bt West Bengal 3-1; Delhi bt Uttar Pradesh 3-0; Telangana bt Haryana 3-0; RSPB bt Maharashtra 3-1.

Women: Semi-finals: RBI bt Delhi 3-1 (Sreeja Akula lost to Lakshita Narang 11-5, 11-8, 5-11, 5-11, 4-11; Ayhika Mukherjee bt Vanshika Bhargava 11-6, 11-4, 9-11, 11-8; Diya Chitale bt Tamanna Saini 11-3, 11-6, 11-8; Sreeja Akula bt Vanshika Bhargava 11-6, 11-9, 11-7); Tamil Nadu bt PSPB 3-1 (Kowshika Venkatesan bt Manika Batra 11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-5; Yashini Sivashankar bt Reeth Rishya 3-11, 11-8, 11-5, 10-12, 11-5; Kavyashree Baskar lost to Archana Kamath 7-11, 5-11, 11-8, 11-5, 2-11; Yashini Sivashankar bt Manika Batra 11-6, 11-8, 11-8).

Quarterfinals: RBI bt Haryana 3-0; Delhi bt Maharashtra 3-1; Tamil Nadu bt West Bengal 3-1; PSPB bt Madhya Pradesh 3-0.

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Seeded men’s and women’s teams move into into quarterfinals 












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