: The favourites kept their date with destiny in the women’s team event of the 87th UTT Senior National Table Tennis Championships as the leading contenders cruised into the quarterfinals with commanding performances at the Abhay Prashal Stadium on Sunday.
While most ties ended inidentical 3-0 margins, several individual rubbers produced tense moments, andthe seventh-seeded West Bengal side—fielding a young lineup—bowed out afterputting up a spirited fight against Gujarat.
Top contenders PetroleumSports Promotion Board (PSPB), Delhi,Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, and RBI alladvanced to the last eight, underlining the depth and consistency of thecountry’s leading teams.
The PSPB authoritatively began its campaign against Haryana. Yahaswini Ghorpade set the tone with a comfortable straight-games win over Suhana Saini before Taneesha Kotecha consolidated the advantage with a solid victory against Prithoki Chakraborti. The closest moment of the tie came in the third rubber, where Syndrela Das was pushed hard by Sneha Bhowmick, eventually sealing the match 13-11, 12-10 in the final two games after dropping the second.
Delhi also posted a 3-0 victory over Assam, though the opening two matches demanded resilience. Lakshita Narang was briefly tested by Bhavna Kashyap, who snatched the third game before Narang steadied herself to close the contest. Sayanika Maji then edged a tight third game against Trisha Gogoi en route to a four-game win, before Garima Goyal wrapped up the tie in straight games against Bhumika Kaushik.
Uttar Pradesh enjoyed oneof the smoother passages into the quarterfinals with Avani Tripathi, Aarti Chaudhary, and Disha all recording straight-games victories over their Andhra Pradesh opponents.
Maharashtra’s Chandigarh was largely comfortable but not without drama. After Pritha Vartikar provided the early lead, Senhora D’Souza had to dig deep against left-handed Vani Sharma. Having dropped the opening game, D’Souza survived a tense fourth game that stretched to 15-13 to clinch the match and secure the tie for Maharashtra. Ananya Chande then completed the formalities in straight games.
Tamil Nadu proved toostrong for Madhya Pradesh as Selena Deepthi, Yashini Sivashankar, and Nithyashree Mani each registered convincing straight-games wins, with Yashini producing one of the most dominant displays of the round.
Karnataka’s 3-0 win over Telangana featured some of the most competitive exchanges of the day. Kushi Viswanath held her nerve to edge the opening game 15-13 before going on to winning four games, and Sahana Murthy showed grit in the third rubber, bouncing back after trailing to prevail in five games eventually.
Despite the 3-0 scoreline, Gujarat paddlers were made to work hard by a determined West Bengal side. Subhankrita Datta had Radhapriya Goel on the ropes after taking a 2-1 lead before the Gujarat paddler staged a comeback to win in five games. The final match was equally dramatic, with Frenaz Chipia recovering from two games down against Sampriti Roy to clinch the decider 11-09 and complete the sweep.
The RBI rounded off thepre-quarterfinal action with a 3-0 win over Odisha. Neha Kumari briefly threatened an upset by taking the opening game against Sreeja Akula, but the seasoned international quickly regained control to turn the match around. Ayhika Mukherjee and Diya Chitale then sealed the tie with commanding straight-game wins.
With the women’squarterfinal lineup now finalised, the spotlight will shift to the men’s team competition, where the pre-quarterfinal clashes are scheduled next in what promises to be another gripping stage of the championships.
Results:
Women’s Pre-quarters: PSPBbt Haryana 3-0 (Yahaswini Ghorpade bt Suhana Saini 11-5, 11-8, 11-4, Taneesha Kotecha bt Prithoki Chakraborti 11-6, 11-8, 11-6, Syndrela Das bt Sneha Bhowmick 11-8, 8-11, 13-11, 12-10); Delhi bt Assam 3-0 (Lakshita Narang bt Bhaavna Kashyap 11-6, 11-6, 10-12, 11-8, Sayanika Maji bt Trisha Gogoi 11-8,8-11, 11-9, 11-5, Garima Goyal bt Bhumika Kaushik 11-9, 11-4, 11-7); Uttar Pradesh bt Andhra Pradesh 3-0 (Avani Tripathi bt Monica Manohar 11-3, 11-9,11-8, Aarti Chaudhary bt Kajol Ramjali 11-3, 11-3, 11-9, Disha bt Mouparna Das 11-6, 11-7, 11-7); Maharashtra bt Chandigarh 3-0 (Pritha Vartikar bt Pelf 11-6,11-4, 11-4, Senhora D’Souza bt Vani Sharma 6-11, 12-10, 11-6, 15-13, Ananya Chande bt Teetiksha Goel 11-7, 11-8, 11-8); Tamil Nadu bt Madhya Pradesh 3-0(Selena Deepthi bt Parmi Nagdeve 11-8, 11-8, 11-5, Yashini Sivashankar bt Moumita Pal 11-2, 11-5, 11-5, Nithyashree Mani bt Bhavya Rao 11-4, 11-6, 11-5); Karnataka bt Telangana 3-0 (Tanishka Kalbhairav bt Pranitha Garlapati 12-10,11-7, 11-2, Kushi Viswanath bt Varuni Jaiswal 15-13, 9-11, 11-5, 11-9, Sahana Murthy bt Sree Devi Dongari 3-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-5, 11-5); Gujarat bt West Bengal 3-0 (Radhapriya Goel bt Subhankrita Datta 11-6, 9-11, 4-11, 11-8, 11-7,Oishiki Joardar bt Ditsa Roy 11-7, 12-10, 11-7, Frenaz Chipia bt Sampriti Roy 9-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-9); RBI bt Odisha 3-0 (Sreeja Akula bt Neha Kumari 8-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-7, Ayhika Mukherjee bt Urja Verma 11-5, 11-3, 11-7, Diya Chitale bt Barsha Panda 11-5, 11-2, 11-2).
======