Indore, January 17: Top-seed Petroleum Sports Promotion Board Academy (PSPB-A) and second-seed West Bengal entering the semifinals of the 85th UTT Sub-Junior and Cadet National Table Tennis Championships at the Abhay Prashal Indoor Stadium today was a foregone conclusion. Even Karnataka boys had been there and done that before. But Odisha making it to the medal round was the real story of the day.
Having lost the opportunity before, in three Nationals at Vijayawada, Ahmedabad and Indore, the Under-15 boys from Odisha found lady luck smiling on them for the first time. And who did they beat in the quarters? Tamil Nadu, and that too for an emphatic 3-1 score.
Though Odisha had an inauspicious start when Anupam Das lost to Nikhil Menon 3-0, there was no indication of their intent. But Jigyanshu Sahoo, their pivot, made a bright start against Siddarth Prakash to level the score. However, Jigyanshu and Anupam combined well to win the doubles, crucial in a team match. The 2-1 lead gave that much confidence, and Jigyanshu beat Nikhil 3-1 to reach where they deserved.
Karnataka’s reliance on left-handed Tehsub and Atharva paid off against Maharashtra, who the former beat 3-2. After Tehsub put Karnataka ahead, Atharva failed to consolidate and went 2-3 down to Shouren. Their problems continued in the doubles, and the Karnataka lads let Maharashtra claw their way back and lead 2-1. But Tehsub beat Souren, and Atharva completed the job, leaving Maharashtra rue a lost chance.
PSPBA kept their date with destiny after beating Gujarat 3-1, and West Bengal thrashed Assam 3-0 with some authority in their quarterfinals.
After their easy passage into the knockout stage, PSPBA was taken the distance for the first time in the championships when the National Centre of Excellence (NCOE) boys kept themselves in the match until the decider. For once, the Petroleum Academy boys found their match in the NCOE rivals as the latter tried and almost changed the script when out in the dumps and trailed 0-2.
The game-changing moment came when Rajdip and Shrestho, who lost their singles to Sahil and Sarthak, fought well in the doubles to post their first rubber (3-1) win. It brought their confidence back, and Rajdip, playing the reverse singles, outsmarted Sarthak in the fourth rubber. The match went down to the wire, and Rajdip won 3-2. With the scores tied 2-2, it was up to the left-handed Sahil to make the most of the occasion. And he did not fail his team, winning the fifth rubber against Shrestho in straight games.
Gujarat beat Delhi 3-1 in a dominant pre-quarterfinal, as did Odisha against Telangana. But for these matches, the rest were one-sided, and the results spoke volumes about the supremacy of the winners.
Meanwhile, the main draw of the Under-13 boys got underway, while the U-15 and U-11 second-stage matches will begin tomorrow after the group engagements today. Concurrently, the doubles affairs are also happening in the Under-15 and Under-13 sections.
Results: U-15 Boys Team: Quarterfinals: PSPBA bt Gujarat 3-1 (Sahil Rawat lost to Arya Kataria 5-11, 9-11, 9-11, Sarthak Arya bt Sujal Kukadia 11-7, 11-9, 11-2, Ronald Sarkar/Sahil bt Malav Panchal/Abhilaksh Patel 11-2, 11-7, 11-5, Sarthak bt Arya 11-7, 9-11, 7-11, 12-10, 11-9); Karnataka bt Maharashtra 3-2 (Teshub Dinesh bt Tanish Pendse 11-8, 17-15, 8-11, 13-11, Atharva Nawarange lost to Shouren Soman 9-11, 11-5, 9-11, 11-8, 7-11, Teshub/Atharva lost to Shouren/Tanish 6-11, 11-7, 15-13, 11-8, Teshub bt Shouren 6-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-6, Atharva bt Tanish 11-7, 11-7, 8-11, 11-4); Odisha bt Tamil Nadu 3-1 (Anupam Das lost to Nikhil Menon 6-11, 6-11, 5-11, Jigyanshu Sahoo bt Siddarth Prakasam 11-5, 9-11, 12-10, 11-6, Anindya Das/Jigyanshu bt Siddarth/Akash Rajavelu 11-9, 6-11, 11-9, 11-7, Jigyanshu bt Nikhil 11-9, 11-3, 7-11, 11-9); West Bengal bt Assam 3-0 (Rupam Sardar bt Swapnanil Dutta 11-6, 11-9, 11-7, Soham Mukherjee bt Abheek Kashyap 6-11, 11-6, 12-10, 8-11, 11-7, Rupam/Soham bt Swapnanil/Abheek 11-9, 13-11, 11-6).
Pre-quarterfinals: PSPBA bt NCOE 3-2 (Sahil bt Rajdip Sen 11-8, 9-11, 11-7, 11-4, Sarthak bt Shresth Chakraborty 11-3, 11-4, 9-11, 11-5, Sahil/Rushikesh Jagtap lost to Rajdip/Shrestho 8-11, 10-12, 14-12, 7-11, Sarthak lost to Rajdip 4-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-4, 12-14, Sahil bt Shrestho 11-3, 11-6, 11-5); Gujarat bt Delhi 3-1 (Abhilaksh bt S. Bhaskar Singh 11-9, 8-11, 9-11, 9-11, Arya bt Raunaq Goel 11-5, 11-5, 11-7, Abhilaksh/Arya bt Bhaskar/Harnoor S Bedi 11-5, 10-12, 8-11, 11-7, 11-5, Arya bt Bhaskar 11-5, 4-11, 7-11, 11-9, 14-12); Maharashtra bt Goa 3-0 (Tanish bt Khushal Naik 11-7, 11-8, 11-8, Shouren bt Chandan Caro 11-7, 11-4, 12-10, Kasthub/Parth bt Atharv Dhulapkar/Khushal 11-6, 11-7, 6-11, 11-8); Karnataka bt Rajasthan (TTFI-1) Atharva bt Aarav Acharya 14-16, 8-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-6, Teshub bt Arinjay Kucchal 11-9, 11-3, 11-7, Arya/Arnav lost to Aarav/Armaan Banthia 11-7, 3-11, 13-11, 4-11, 7-11, Teshub bt Aarav 11-7, 6-11, 11-8, 11-9); Odisha bt Telangana 3-1 (Jigyansu bt Devansh Malkapuri 11-4, 11-4, 11-9, Anupam Das lost to Akshay Khajandar 9-11, 3-11, 5-11, Jigyansu/Anupam bt Karthik Teja/Akshay 11-9, 11-6, 11-2, Jigyansu bt Akahay 11-5, 11-6, 11-3); Tamil Nadu bt UP 3-0 (Siddarth bt Veer Balmiki 11-9, 11-4, 11-6, Akash bt Aryan Kumar 9-11, 11-13, 11-7, 11-9, 11-6, Siddarth/Akash bt Aaryan/Veer 11-7, 12-10, 11-8); Assam bt Chandigarh 3-0 (Swapnanil bt Vadya Chawla 11-5, 1-5, 13-11, Abheek bt Vishal Garg 13-11, 9-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7, Swapnanil/Abheek bt Gishal/Vadya 11-3, 5-11, 11-6, 14-12); West Bengal bt Haryana 3-0 (Rupam bt Mahir Varma 11-6, 11-6, 11-5, Soham bt Shaurya Kumar 11-5, 10-12, 11-4, 11-5, Soham/Rupam bt Parsh Yadav/Mahir 11-5, 11-7, 11-9).
