Cuttack, January 5: Uttar Pradesh proved to be the giant-killer as Abhishek Yadav’s spirited bunch staged successive upsets to assure itself of a team championship medal in the 11Sports 80th National Table Tennis Championship at the Nehru Stadium here today.

On the second day of the event, UP stunned last year’s silver medallist Haryana in the quarter-finals with left-handed Yadav continuing his unbeaten streak to win both his singles and Abhinav Belwal, who did he star turn for his state,  surprising the experienced Sourav Saha in the deciding rubber to help UP win its first medal in 19 years. Earlier in the evening, UP had ousted medal contenders West Bengal 3-2 in the round of 16, with Belwal playing his role to perfection in the deciding rubber. UP last won a bronzein 200 at the Lucknow Nationals.     

Not to be outdone, Delhi men too ended their 24-year medal drought as they outplayed Sushmit Sriram-led Tamil Nadu 3-2 to enter the semifinals. In an entertaining quarter-final, Tamil Nadu after promising start failed to sustain, particularly when Payas Jain outwitted Nitin Thiruvengadam. Payas, leading 2-0 in the last rubber was lagging behind in the third game as he was down 0-5 and then 2-8 but made a fantastic recovery to seal the fate of Tamil Nadu. Earlier, two other youngsters, Parth Virmani and Utkarsh Gupta, had ensured Delhi’s win to set up a semi-final clash against giant PSPB. A bronze in the 1994-95 Nationals at Pondicherry was last the medal for Delhi’s men. 

The other two quarterfinals went along expected lines as PSPB men won 3-0 against Maharashtra A while Gujarat defeated Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) 3-1 with little challenge emanating from their opponents.

In comparison, to the other two quarterfinals,

PSPB women had the easiest of passages into the semifinals as they beat Telangana 3-0 but the other three quarterfinal matches went down to the wire with, Maharashtra B, West Bengal and Airports Authority of India scraping through with 3-2 verdicts.

In one of the finest comebacks, West Bengal was down 0-2 and mustered energy and courage to overcome the initial hurdles to topple Tamil Nadu which did everything right until the first two ties. Mousumi Paul provided the spark and, playing their reverse singles Krittwika Sinha Roy and Ayhika Mukherjee carried through the momentum to end up on the winning side.

But what endeared everyone and turned the attention on was Maharashtra B squad, comprising two juniors in Diya Chitale and Manushree Patil along with the experienced Sweta Parte, which was playing against their A team, consisting of India players Pooja Sahasrabudhe, Divya Deshpande and Senhora D’Souza.

Maharashtra B’s belief and perseverance needs appreciation as, after being down 0-2, staged a fine recovery when Sweta defeated Senhora to give an opening. As if that was the cue, the two youngsters, first Diya, followed by Manushree played so well that their senior opponents wilted under pressure.

Diya deserve a pat on her back for the way she fought back well. Divya was leading 2-0 in the fourth tie and the little girl from Mumbai launched her attack after taking the third game and the fourth after deuce to decimate a devastated Divya, whose forte was attack. Yet, when she was forced away from table, Diya was found wanting. But the clever girl sized up well her opponent’s weakness to turn the tables on her.

With scores level, Manushree was in complete control despite dropping the third game to beat the experienced Pooja, whose drooping shoulders said it all.

In the AAI-Gujarat match, fortunes fluctuated and in spite AAI having a fine start and Gujarat going 2-1 up after the third, Mallika Bhandarkar and Surbhi Patwari prevailed over their rivals Chipia Frenaz and Fatema Kadri, especially the Chipia reverse singles proving to be the spoiler.

Results: Team Events:

Quarterfinals (Women): PSPB bt Telangana 3-0 (Manika Batra bt Sreeja Akula 2-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-5, Madhurika Patkar bt Nikhat Banu 11-5, 1-7, 9-11, 11-6, Mouma Das bt Monica Manohar 11-8, 13-11, 11-9); Maharashtra B bt Maharashtra A 3-2 (Diya Chitale lost to Pooja Sahasrabudhe 5-11, 11-4, 3-11, 9-11, Manushree Patil lost to Divya Deshpande 9-11, 12-10, 11-9, 1-11, 2-11, Sweta Parte bt Senhora D’Souza 11-7, 11-7, 4-11, 11-6, Diya Chitale bt Divya Deshpande 10-12, 9-11, 11-7, 12-10, 11-5, Manushree Patil bt Pooja Sahasrabudhe 11-8, 11-3, 6-11, 11-8); West Bengal bt Tamil Nadu 3-2 (Ayhika Mukherjee lost to Reeth Rishya 7-11, 7-11, 9-11, Krittwika Sinha Roy lost Amrutha Pushpak 14-16, 6-11, 2-11, Mousumi Paul bt Vidya Narasimhan 11-6, 11-9, 11-9, Krittwika Sinha Roy bt Reeth Rishya 11-7, 11-8, 12-10, Ayhika Mukherjee bt Amrutha Pushpak 9-11, 12-10, 8-11, 13-11, 11-9); AAI bt Gujarat 3-2 (Mallika Bhandarkar bt Fatema Kadri 11-5, 12-10, 11-5, Surbhi Patwari lost to Chipia Frenaz 11-9, 6-11, 11-7, 5-11, 9-11, Selenadeepthi Selvakumar lost to Kausha Bhairapure 11-5, 10-12, 11-5, 7-11, 8-11, Mallika Bhandarkar bt Chipia Frenaz 11-9, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9, Surbhi Patwari bt Fatema Kadri 11-4, 11-9, 11-9).

Pre-Quarterfinals: PSPB bt Delhi 3-0 (Mouma Das bt Vanshika Bhargava 11-4, 8-11, 11-8, 11-2, Madhurika Patkar bt Kritika Malik 12-10, 11-7, 10-12, 11-5, Archana Kamath bt Garima Goel 11-5, 16-14, 11-4); Telangana bt Andhra Pradesh 3-0 (Nikhat Banu bt Harshita Lakshmi 11-4, 11-5, 11-5, Sreeja Akula bt Shailu 11-7, 9-11, 11-2, 9-11, 11-9, Varuni Jaiswal bt Ramjali Kajol 11-7, 11-2, 3-11, 9-11, 11-8); Maharashtra B bt Uttar Pradesh 3-0 (Anannya Basak bt Shana Narjinary 11-8, 9-11, 6-11, 11-6, 12-10, Diya Chitale bt Radhapriya Goel 12-10, 6-11, 11-6, 11-2, Shweta Parte bt Kavya Gupta 11-5, 11-4, 11-5); Maharashtra A bt Karnataka 3-0 (Pooja Sahasrabudhe bt Mariya Rony 8-11, 11-9, 10-12, 11-5, 11-9, Divya Deshpande bt Kushi Viswanath 9-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-8, Mamata Prabu bt A. Samyuktha 11-5, 11-9, 11-7); West Bengal bt Assam 3-0 (Krittwika Sinha Roy bt Jitakhee Mazumdar 11-3, 11-8, 12-10, Ayhika Mukherjee bt Trisha Gogoi 11-8, 9-11, 11-4, 11-4, Mausumi Paul bt Gargee Goswami 14-12, 11-5, 12-10); Tamil Nadu bt North Bengal 3-1 (Amrutha Pushpak lost to Nikita Sarkar 8-11, 11-8, 11-4, 10-12, 1-11, Reeth Rishya bt Puja Paul 7-11, 15-13, 11-7, 11-8, Vidya Narasimhan bt Sukanya Bose 11-7, 11-5, 6-11, 11-6, Reeth Rishya bt Nikita Sarkar 11-9, 11-8, 11-8); Gujarat bt Rajasthan 3-2 (Fatema Kadri lost to Priyanka Parekh 11-5, 9-11, 3-11, 10-12, Chipia Frenaz lost to Nikita Rautela 9-11, 8-11, 8-11, Kausha Bhairapure bt Manisha Sharma 11-9, 8-11, 11-7, 4-11, 11-7, Chipia Frenaz bt Priyanka Parekh 11-7, 12-10, 9-11, 8-11, 11-5, Fatema Kadri bt Nikita Rautela 11-9, 11-8, 10-12, 4-11); AAI bt Odisha 3-0 (Kaushani Nath bt Mayuri Chatterjee 9-11, 4-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-6, Mallika Bhandarkar bt Prusty Samartha 9-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-4, Moumita Datta bt Ankita Senapati 15-13, 10-12, 11-7, 11-9).  

Quarterfinals (Men): PSPB bt Maharashtra A 3-0 (A. Sharath Kamal bt Siddhesh Pande 11-9, 11-5, 11-7, G. Sathiyan bt Sanil Shetty 11-7, 11-8, 11-9, Anothny Amalraj bt Sanish Ambekar 11-8, 11-4, 11-6); Delhi bt Tamil Nadu 3-2 (Payas Jain lost to Sushmit Sriram 6-11, 7-11, 11-13, Parth Virmani bt Nitin Thuruvengadam 3-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-7, Utkarsh Gupta bt Suresh Nikhil 11-7, 12-10, 11-7, Parth Virmani lost to Sushmit Sriram 4-11, 9-11, 10-12, Payas Jain bt Nitin Thiruvengadam 11-9, 11-4, 11-9); Gujarat bt RSPB 3-1 (Manush Shah bt Anirban Ghosh 9-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-8, 11-5, Harmeet Desai bt Anirban Nandi 11-9, 11-13, 11-5, 8-11, 11-7, Jignesh Jaiswal lost to Ravinda Kotiyan 11-8, 3-11, 11-6, 6-11, 8-11, Harmeet Desai bt Anirban Ghosh 11-6, 9-11, 11-3, 11-3); Uttar Pradesh bt Haryana 3-2 (Abhinav Belwal bt Jubin Kumar 5-11, 13-11, 6-11, 4-11, Abhishek Yadav bt Sourav Saha 11-7, 12-10, 11-8, Sarthak Seth lost to Jeet Chandra 10-12, 11-4, 11-13, 3-11, Abhishek Yadav bt Jubin Kumar 11-6, 8-11, 11-7 11-7, Abhinav Belwal bt Sourav Saha 11-3, 11-9, 11-9).

Men: Pre-Quarterfinals: PSPB bt Assam 3-0 (G. Sathiyan bt Angneev Gohain 11-4, 11-3, 11-1, A. Sharath Kamal bt Birdi Boro 11-8, 11-7, 12-10, Sudhanshu Grover bt Shankab Baruah 9-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-7); Maharashtra A bt Karnataka 3-0 (Siddhesh Pande b Shreyal Telang 11-9, 11-9, 11-7, Sanil Shetty bt Rakshit Barigidad 9-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-8, 11-6, Sanish Ambekar bt Anirban Roychoudhary 11-8, 11-7, 7-11, 9-11, 11-9); Delhi bt Chhattisgarh 3-0 (Payas Jain bt Sagar Ghatge 11-7, 11-8, 13-11, Parth Virmani bt Santosh Araswilli 11-5, 11-8, 11-7, Utkarsh Gupta bt Abhishek Raj 11-4, 11-2, 11-2); Tamil Nadu bt Rajasthan 3-0 (Sushmit Sriram bt Abu Rizwan 11-3, 13-11, 11-4, Nitin Thuruvengadam bt Vivek Bhargava 13-11, 11-4, 11-5, Suresh Nikhil bt Asif Khan 11-7, 11-9, 14-12); RSPB bt North Bengal 3-1 (Aniraban Nandi lost to Raja Kundu 6-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-9, Anirban Ghosh bt Akash Nath 13-11, 11-9, 15-13, Ravindra Kotiyan bt Subhankar Sarkar  11-6, 11-9, 5-11, 11-7, Anirban Nandi bt Akash Nath 6-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-7); Gujarat bt Maharashtra B 3-1 (Manush Shah bt Raegan Albuquerque 8-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-7, Harmeet Desai bt Tanmay Rane 11-4, 11-6, 11-2, Jignesh Jaiswal lost to Zubin Taraporewalla 4-11, 11-4, 8-11, 7-11, Harmeet Desai bt Raegan Albuquerque 7-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-5); Uttar Pradesh bt West Bengal 3-2 (Abhinav Belwal lost to Arjun Ghosh 5-11, 7-11, 10-12, Abhishek Yadav bt Ronit Bhanja 11-9, 11-6, 9-11, 16-14, Divyansh Srivastava lost to Sougata Sarkar 9-11, 4-11, 10-12; Abhishek Yadav bt Arjun Ghosh 11-7, 11-3, 11-7; Abhinav Belwal bt Ronit Bhanja 8-11, 9-11, 11-9, 14-12, 11-6); Haryana bt Telangana 3-2 (Jubin Kumar bt Mohammed Ali 11-9, 11-6, 5-11, 11-7, Jeet Chandra lost to SFR Snehit 9-11, 7-11, 9-11, Sourav Saha bt Ali Mohammed 11-8, 6-11, 11-8, 11-7, Jubin Kumar lost to SFR Snehit 6-11, 4-11, 11-7, 7-11, Jeet Chandra bt Mohammed Ali 11-8, 8-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-9).