Rajasthan give PSCB scare before losing

JANUARY 7: Star-studded Petroleum Sports Control Board PSCB, Tamil Nadu and Bengal conceded a match against their respective opponents b...

JANUARY 7: Star-studded Petroleum Sports Control Board PSCB, Tamil Nadu and Bengal conceded a match against their respective opponents before making it to the women8217;s team events quarter-finals of the 61st Sahara National and Inter-State Table Tennis championships at the Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar Stadium here this evening. Reigning champions Railways blanked out Assam 3-0 to become the first team to make it to the last eight stage.

The defeat of former national champion N R Indu, seeded No 3 in open events, to Rajasthan8217;s unseeded Rani Chandrima was the highlight of PSCB8217;s 3-1 win. Bishakha Vijay a trainee at the PSCB Academy had earlier given PSCB a fright in the opening match when she extended sixth seen M S Mythili to three games. Reigning women8217;s champion Poulami Ghatak outplayed Rajasthan8217;s weak-link Lakshmi Soni, and then Indu triumphed over Rishakha in the decider.

No 8 seed Pradeep8217;s loss to Delhi8217;s Ritu Ghorpade was the feature of Ramil Nadu8217;s 3-1 win. B Bhuvaneshwari won both her matches at the expense of Ekta Bhambri and Ritu to clinch the issue in TN8217;s favour after Lavanya had beaten Ishani Barua. Despite Avanti Sinha8217;s first match loss to Shalmali Matra, Bengal recovered through Shuhmita Roy two wins and Nindata Sahe to beat Maharashtra A with a 3-1 margin.

Results: Women QF: Railways bt Assam 3-0 Kasturi Chakraborty bt Jonali Handigu 23-21, 21-10; Anindita Chakraborty bt Jupi Borthakur 22-20, 21-15, M Dutta bt Shamyukta Gogoi 21-13, 21-13. Bengal bt Maharashtra A 3-1 Avanti Sinha lost to Shalmali Matre 21-10, 20-22, 21-23, Sushmita Roy bt Jahnavi Deshpande 21-12, 21-16, Nandita Saha bt Shalmali Inamdar 21-22, 21-10, Sushmita Roy bt Shalmali Matre 21-12, 21-10. Tamul Nadu bt Delhi 3-1 T Pradeopa lost to Ritu Ghorpade 12-21, 20-22, Bhuvaneshwari bt Ekta 21-13, 21-14, Lavahya bt Ishani Barua 21-17, 21-19, Bhuvneshwari bt Ritu 21-15, 21-18; PSCB bt Rajasthan 3-1 MS Mythili bt Bishakha Vijay 13-21, 21-18, 21-9, NR Indu lost to Rani Chandrima 18-21, 19-21, Poulami bt Lakshmi Soni 21-10, 21-10, NR Indu bt Bishkha Vijay 21-12, 22-20.

Group qualifiers for quarters: Men: Group A: Rajasthan, PSCB Group B Bengal, UP. Group C: Railways, Punjab. Group D: TamilNadu, Maharashtra. Women: Group A: Railways, Rajasthan. Group B: Bengal, Assam. Group C: PSCB, Delhi. Group D: Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra A.

Men: Group A: PSCB bt Karnataka 3-0, HP bt J-K 3-1, Rajasthan bt Gujarat 3-2, Karnataka bt J-K 3-C. Group B: Bengal bt Chandigarh 3-0, UP bt Orissa 3-0,Maharashtra A bt Pondicherry 3-2, Group C: Bihar bt Tripura 3-0, Punjab bt AP 3-0, Railways bt Assam 3-0. Group D: MP bt Haryana 3-0, TNby Maharashtra B 3-0, Delhi bt Kar 3-0 Harsh Chopra bt V Srinivasan 21-16, 11-21, 21-12: Himansh Kal bt R Rajesh 21-5, 21-16; Ajay Jha bt M.H. Srikumar 21-14, 21-12.

Women: Group A: Rajasthan bt MP 3-1, Railways bt Maharashtra B 3-1 Group B: Assam bt AP 3-0, Bengalbt Chandigarh 3-0, Pondicherry bt Haryana 3-2. Group C: PSCB bt UP 3-0, Delhi bt Kerala 3-2 Ekta to A Radhika 12-21, 11-21; Ritu bt NS Bindu 21-13, 21-6; Ishani bt MS Indu 21-15, 21-14; Titu lost to A Radhika 19-21, 21-11, 18-21; Ekta bt M S Indu 21-11, 21-19. Group D: Karnataka bt Bihar 3-0. Maharashtra A bt J-K 3-0. Tamil Nadu bt Karnataka 3-0, Maharashtra A bt Punjab 3-2,Bihar bt J-K 3-0, Karnataka bt J-K 3-0.

Story continues below this ad

SEMI-FINAL LINE-UP WOMEN: Railways vs Tamil Nadu8217; PSCB vs Bengal