The Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) men had a nervy moment in their pursuit of the men’s team championship crown for the 23rd consecutive edition, as Delhi pushed them to the brink before the powerhouse team set up a final showdown against the Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) in the 86th Senior National Table Tennis Championship on Tuesday.
Yashansh Malik gave Delhi a dream start by stunning the highly-rated G. Sathiyan in the opening rubber. Promising youngster Payas Jain came agonisingly close to replicating that success in what was a below-par performance from Sathiyan. However, Sathiyan saved three match points in the deciding game to narrowly edge past Payas and secure PSPB’s victory.
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In the other semifinal, RSPB ended the remarkable run of giant-killer Assam with a 3-1 win. Powered by Priyanuj Bhattacharyya’s brilliance, Assam had earlier eliminated eighth-seeded Uttar Pradesh and TTFI-1 in the quarterfinal. However, Anirban Ghosh produced a stunning comeback after trailing 2-0 in a thrilling contest filled with long rallies, sealing victory for Railways.
The women’s team championship final will also feature RSPB and PSPB. While the PSPB women eased past Gujarat in the semifinal, RSPB’s Kaushani Nath and Poymantee Baisya narrowly overcame tough challenges from Maharashtra’s Taneesha Kotecha and Ananya Chande, respectively.
The results
Men’s team: Semifinals: PSPB bt Delhi 3-1 (G. Sathiyan lost to Yashansh Malik 11-9, 11-9, 6-11, 7-11,4-11; Ankur Bhattacharjee bt Payas Jain 11-5, 13-11, 11-8; Harmeet Desai bt Sudhanshu Grover 11-8, 9-11, 11-9, 11-5; Sathiyan bt Payas 11-9, 4-11, 5-11, 12-10, 12-10); RSPB bt Assam 3-1 (Anirban Ghosh bt Shankab Barua 11-4, 11-7, 11-6; Jeet Chandra lost to Priyanuj Bhattacharyya 10-12, 11-7, 1-11, 6-11; Ronit Bhanja bt Agniv Bhaskar Gohain 11-4, 11-2, 12-10, Anirban bt Priyanuj 5-11, 10-12, 14-12, 11-7, 11-3)
Quarterfinals: PSPB bt Telangana 3-0; Delhi bt Tamil Nadu 3-0 (Yashansh bt S. Preyesh Raj 11-1, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6; Payas bt P.B.
Abhinandh 11-4, 9-11, 11-7, 11-7; Sudhanshu bt Tharun Shanmugam 11-7, 11-7, 11-8); Assam bt TTFI-1 3-1; RSPB bt Maharashtra 3-1.
Women’s team: Semifinals: RSPB bt Maharashtra 3-0 (Sutirtha Mukherjee bt Senhora D’Souza 10-12, 11-9, 11-5, 11-5; Kaushani Nath bt Taneesha Kotecha 2-11, 11-4, 7-11, 15-13, 11-5; Poymantee Baisya bt Ananya Chande 11-9, 6-11, 5-11, 11-7, 12-10); PSPB bt Gujarat 3-0 (Yashaswini Ghorpade bt Oishiki Joardar 11-5, 11-7, 11-8; T. Reeth Rishya bt Krittwika Sinha Roy 12-10, 11-5, 11-9; Sayali Wani bt Frenaz Chipia 11-8, 11-8, 11-13, 11-5).
Quarterfinals: RSPB bt Bengal 3-0; Maharashtra bt Haryana 3-1; Gujarat bt Tamil Nadu 3-1; PSPB bt Delhi 3-0.
