Top-seeded Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) men and women's teams posted identical 3-0 wins over Tamil Nadu and Delhi, respectively, to stride into the semifinals of the 76th Senior Nationals Table Tennis championship, which began at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium here Tuesday.
But it was the Haryana men who beat Maharashtra 3-1 and Airports Authority of India (AAI) women who downed Tamil Nadu 3-1 hogging the limelight for the day.
Haryana, no doubt, had to depend on the experienced Sourav Chakraborty who won both his singles, but it was Sarthak Gandhi's third singles triumph that gave Haryana the edge over Maharashtra.
Though Jubin Kumar, their main player lost to Aman Balgu, that did not matter in the end as Chakraborty made amends by beating Balgu in his reverse singles.
In the last quarterfinal, West Bengal overcame a stiff Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) challenge to win 3-1 and earn the right to take on Haryana in the last four.
Rajasthan put up a brave fight before going down to Gujarat 1-3 in the quarterfinals. Gujarat men will begin their semifinal battle against top-seeded PSPB team Wedensday.
In a women's clash, Airport Authority of India's Amrutha Pushpak played a stellar role, winning both her singles against Tamil Nadu.
But it was a good revenge that Seraha Jacob exacted against Shanmathi Sathiyamoorthy which paved the way for AAI's entry into the semifinals after the experienced but patchy Nikhat Banu lost to Vidya 10-12, 14-12, 6-11, 13-11, 11-1. Seraha had lost 2-3 to Shanmathi in the vital fifth rubber at the Junior Nationals which denied Kerala the title.
Results (team events):
Men: Quarterfinals: PSPB bt Tamil Nadu 3-0 (Sanil Shetty bt Sushmit Sriram 11-5, 11-6, 11-6, Anthony Amalraj bt Nitin thiruvengadam 11-6, 7-11, 15-13, 11-9, Harmeet Desai bt Subash Mani 11-6, 12-10, 11-6), Gujarat bt Rajasthan 3-1 (JIgnesh Jaiswal lost to Abhishek Yadav 8-11, 10-12, 11-9, 8-11, Devesh Karia bt Sudhanshu Grover 12-10, 12-14, 8-11, 11-6, 11-5, Hardik Bhatt bt Vivek Bhargava 9-11, 8-11, 11-8, 13-11, 11-8, Devesh Karia bt Abhishek Yadav 11-7, 11-2, 11-7),A Haryana bt Maharashtra A 3-1 (Sourav Chakraborty bt Martand Biniwale 11-8, 11-8, 11-9, Jubin Kumar lost to Aman Balgu 9-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-13, 1-11, Sarthak Gandhi bt Chinmay Datat 7-11, 11-1, 11-6, 11-6, Sourav Chakraborty bt Aman Balgu 11-3, 8-11, 11-7, 11-9), West Bengal bt RSPB 3-1 (Sougata Sarkar lost to Anirban Nandi 5-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-5, 7-11, Sourav Saha bt E. Prabhakaran 12-10, 5-11, 9-11, 14-12, 11-9, Surajit Das bt Noel Pinto 11-9, 8-11, 17-15, 11-7, Sougata Sarkar bt E. Prabhakaran 11-9, 11-6, 6-11, 12-10.); PQF: PSPB bt Kerala 3-0, Tamil Nadu bt Delhi 3-1, Rajasthan bt Himachal Pradesh 3-0, Gujarat bt North Bengal 3-0, Haryana bt Assam 3-0, Maharashtra A bt Maharashtra B 3-1, RSPB bt Karnataka 3-0, West Bengal bt Telangana 3-1.
Women: Quarterfinals: PSPB bt Delhi 3-0 (K. Shamini bt Manisha Sharma 11-7, 11-9, 11-3, Mouma Das bt Neha Aggarwal 11-9, 11-6, 5-11, 9-11, 11-7, Ankita Das bt Garima Goyak 11-4, 11-13, 11-7, 11-4), Maharashtra A bt Telangana 3-0 (Madhurika Patkar bt Naina 11-4, 11-3, 11-6, Pooja Sahasrabudhe bt Sreeja Akula 8-11, 12-10, 11-8, 13-11, Divya Deshpande bt Monica Manohar 5-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-7), West Bengal bt Karnataka 3-1 (Anandita Chakraborty lost to Archana Kamath 9-11, 3-11, 5-11, Mousumi Paul bt Swetha Kumarvel 11-9, 7-11, 11-8, 5-11, 13-11, Pallabi Kundu bt Spoorthi Venkateshan 11-6, 11-6, 11-3, Mousumi Paul bt Archana Kamath 11-6, 11-9, 8-11, 11-8), Airports Authority of India bt Tamil Nadu 3-1 (Amrutha Pushpak bt Narasimha Priya 11-5, 11-3 12-10, Nikhat Banu lost to Vidya Narasimhan 10-12, 14-12, 6-11, 13-11, 11-1, Sereha Jacob bt Shanmathi Sathiyamoorthy 11-2, 11-6, 12-10, Amrutha Pushpak bt Vidya Narasimha 11-6, 11-8, 5-11, 11-9); PQF: PSPB bt Gujarat 3-1, Delhi bt Haryana 3-0, Maharashtra A bt Assam 3-0, Telangana bt Maharashtra B 3-0, West Bengal bt Andhra Pradesh 3-0, Karnataka bt Odisha 3-0, Tamil Nadu bt Pondicherry 3-0, Airports Authority of India bt North Bengal 3-0.
