Chandigarh, February 27:  Karnataka beat Telangana 3-2 in what was best first-round 60-Plus Category match on Day 1 on the Stag 23rd Veteran National Table Tennis Championships which started at the Panjab University Gymnasium Hall here today.

Rajen Kothari not only had to play the crucial fifth rubber but needed to win to help Karnataka enter the second round. And that is what he precisely when he beat G. Christopher after K. Ramakrishna had put Telangana on an even keel. Luckily for Kothari, Christopher was an easy meat as he beat 11-2, 11-3, 11-3 without a fuss. Earlier, R. Prasad had opened well for Karnataka with a win over Christopher but Ramakrishna was up to the task to restore parity, beating Kothari 3-0. But C.R. Lakshmirnarayan had provided the lead once again as Karnataka went 2-1 up before Ramakrishna neutralizing the advantage. In fact, despite playing at his best and raising vision of a possible upset, Ramakrishna was left to plough a lone furrow.

Telangana’s gusty performance in 50-Plus category, too, went waste as Chhattisgarh accounted for them 3-2 in another tough first round battle. This match, too, had all the trappings of an edge-of-the seat contest as the fighting spirit of Chhattisgarh veterans surfaced.

Chhattisgarh was down and out, having lost the first two singles before the exploits of Giriraj Bgde and Samir Sarkar put their team on road to recovery. Telangana’s NVN Kishore defeated Sarkar 11-9, 9-11, 11-7, 11-7 to give a proper opening which P. Suresh consolidated with a 3-1 win over Vinod Deoghare. But their weak link in Y. Kennedy lost the third rubber to Bagde and it brought the confidence back in Chhattisgarh. Sarkar, after some struggle, downed Suresh 12-10, 10-12, 11-6, 11-4 to leave matters for Deoghare to settle as the latter beat Kishore 3-0.

But overall, the gusto among the veterans had to be seen to be believed as, across all categories, they made their opponents work hard and earn their point, making a pointblank and loud statement.

With referees making things easy for participation, the team events have been made into a knockout affair and, as a result, quarterfinals in four categories are slated for later tonight. All team semifinals and finals will be played tomorrow and they will be followed by singles qualifying rounds in 50-plus category. Hosts Chandigarh had a mixed bag in two of the categories.

Spirit of veterans evoked

Earlier in the day, the championships were inaugurated and declared open by chief guest Vijay Kumar Dev, adviser to the UT Administration, with top dignitaries of TTFI and other state associations in place on the dais. The inauguration was preceded by march-past by teams and followed by a cultural programme by Tribune Model School (Sector 29) and Gurukul Global School students.

Welcoming the chief guest, other dignitaries and the participants, president of the Chandigarh Table Tennis Association Sukhmeet Grewal spoke of the work the association was doing to promote table tennis in the union territory. He also thanked the Panjab University for its help in providing its gymnasium for the conduct of the championships and the participants.

Chief guest Dev not only wished all the ‘young’ veterans well but praised the spirit of veterans. “I am really impressed and thankful to you all for making it to the championships from different parts of the country. I appreciate your passion and we need such sportspersons to make India healthy and strong,” he said.

Results: (Men’s Team Event):

Category 40-plus (Round 1): Chhattisgarh bt Manipur 3-0, Goa bt Jammu and Kashmir 3-0, Himachal Pradesh bt Jharkhand 3-0. 2nd round: AI&AD bt Guajrat D 3-2, RBI bt Goa 3-0, Guajrat A bt Delhi C 3-0, Karnataka A bt Tamil Nadu B 3-0, West Bengal bt Chhattisgarh 3-1, Uttar Pradesh bt Punjab 3-1, Maharashtra A bt Karnataka B 3-0, Air India bt Chandigarh 3-0, Andhra Pradesh bt Tamil Nadu A 3-0, Himachal Pradesh bt Punjab A 3-0, Delhi B bt Haryana 3-0, Telangana bt Rajasthan 3-0, Maharashtra C bt Madhya Pradesh 3-0, Maharashtra B bt Delhi D 3-0, Delhi A bt North Bengal 3-0, Maharashtra D bt Andhra Pradesh A 3-0.

Category 50-plus (Round 1): AI&AS bt Gujarat 3-0, Himachal Pradesh w/o North Bengal 3-0, Maharashtra C bt Air India 3-0, Uttar Pradesh bt Manipur 3-0, Maharashtra E bt Odisha 3-0, Karnataka bt Jharkhand 3-1, West Bengal bt Punjab 3-0, Chhattisgarh bt Telangana 3-2, Andhra Pradesh B bt Sikkim 3-1. 2nd round: Uttar Pradesh A bt Delhi C 3-1, AI&AD bt Manipur A 3-1, West Bengal A bt Himachal Pradesh 3-1, West Bengal B bt Chandigarh 3-0, UP bt Meghalaya A 3-0, Maharashtra A bt Punjab B 3-0, Punjab bt Gujarat B 3-0, Gujarat bt Tamil Nadu 3-0, Maharashtra C bt Haryana 3-0, Delhi A bt Karnataka B 3-0, Maharashtra D bt Andhra Pradesh A 3-0, Maharashtra B bt Goa A 3-0, Tamil Nadu w/o Telangana 3-0, Gujarat A bt Maharashtra E 3-1, Tamil Nadu bt Karantaka A 3-1.

Category 60-plus (Round 1): Karnataka bt Telangana 3-2, Maharashtra C bt Uttar Pradesh 3-0, Delhi B bt Tamil Nadu B 3-0.

Category 65-plus: Chandigarh bt Karnataka 3-1.

Category 70-Plus: Delhi w/o Chandigarh 3-0.