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Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) won men's and women's team events respectively on Tuesday, December 19, at the ongoing 85th UTT Senior Nationals and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships in Panchkula, Haryana.
Petroleum missed the services of talisman Achanta Sharath Kamal and rested Harmeet Desai in the final. But former singles national champions Anthony Amalraj and G Sathiyan along with young Manav Thakkar convincingly defeated Delhi 3-0.
Amalraj lost the first game against Payas Jain but withheld the next two games by two points each to gain a slight advantage. However, Payas bounced back in the fourth game, picking four straight points to force a decider. The senior Amalraj brought his experience to the fore to outsmart his opponent at 11-9 and hand a 1-0 lead to PSPB.
Manav Thakkar dropped the third game but that didn't disturb his rhythm as he came back strongly to defeat Sudhanshu Grover 11-9, 11-8, 5-11, 11-9. Sathiyan, who arrived in Panchkula from Italy on Monday, made short work of his game by winning three straight games against Shubh Goel 11-6, 11-9 & 11-2. This was the 27th men's team title for Petroleum at the nationals.
RBI defends women's team title
Asian Games medalist Ayhika Mukherjee made a come-from-behind 3-2 win after going down in the first two games against Tamil Nadu's Yashini Sivashankar 12-14, 3-11, 13-11, 11-6, 13-11. Ayhika saved match points in the third and fifth games to pocket a hard-fought lead for RBI.
Defending women's singles champion Sreeja Akula drubbed Kavyashree Baskar in straight games 11-3, 11-8 & 11-5. An injured Diya Chitale was determined to pull off match points against Selena in three instances to outsmart Selena in a thrilling encounter.
Results (Team Finals)
Men: PSPB bt Delhi 3-0 (Anthony Amalraj bt Payas Jain 9-11, 13-11, 11-9, 11-13, 11-9; Manav Thakkar bt Sudhanshu Grover 11-9, 11-8, 5-11, 11-9; G. Sathiyan bt Shubh Goel 11-6, 11-9, 11-2).
Women: RBI bt Tamil Nadu 3-0 (Ayhika Mukherjee bt Yashini Sivashankar 12-14, 3-11, 13-11, 11-6, 13-11; Sreeja Akula bt Kavyashree Baskar 11-3, 11-8, 11-5; Diya Chitale bt Selenadeepthi Selvakumar 6-11, 11-5, 11-7, 8-11, 15-13)
