Jalandhar, April 28: Chandrani Dey Ganguly and Koushidev Sarkar from West Bengal will cross swords with Soumya Narendrapra and Sandeep Kannambadi of Karnataka for the title in the 40+ mixed doubles final of UTT 29th National Masters Table Tennis Championships at the PAP Indoor Stadium tomorrow.

The Bengal pair defeated Anjana P. Rao and CR Satyajit of Karnataka 3-1. But the other Karnataka pair, Soumya and Sandeep, faced stiff resistance from Vinita J. Shukla and Onkar Hari Jog of Maharashtra before entering the finals.

The Karnataka duo made a poor start, losing the first extended game and going down again in the second. The turnaround happened for Soumya and Sandeep from the third, as they won that game and followed it up with a triumph in the fourth. With the scores level, the Karnataka pair rode on the new-found confidence to win the crucial decider on their fourth match point. 

Shilpa Joshi and Manish Rawat of Maharashtra combined nicely to put it across Neha Patel and Maly Kumar Thakkar of Gujarat in straight games and have a shot at the gold medals. The Maharashtra paddlers will faceoff with the Gujarat paddlers, Sonal Joshi and Hiral Mehta, who defeated the pair from Madhya Pradesh, Rashmi Soni and Kishore Motwani. 

The MP duo made a bright start but dropped the next two games to go in arrears, putting them under severe pressure. But they pulled back level in the fourth, giving the Sonal and Hiral some headache. The latter weathered the storm in an extended game to win their second match point to enter the gold medal round in the second 50+ mixed doubles semi-final. 

West Bengal's Mantu Murmu and Jaswinder Singh Pateja warded off a second-game threat to beat Maharashtra's Rohini Vasant Ailwar and Pramod Desai in straight games. Another West Bengal pair joined the winners in the final of the 60+ mixed doubles when Karabi Maity and Subhamoy Chatterjee outwitted Maharashtra’s Neeta Kulkarni and Purshotam.M 3-1.

When Mangal Saraft combined with Yogesh Desai, a multiple gold medal winner from the Mascut World Veterans, it was child's play for the duo to beat statemates Sunanda Rao and Shivanand Kundaje, as the scoreline suggests. The final in the 65+ category of the mixed doubles will be an all-Maharashtra show as Mythili Sodhi and Jayant Kulkarni beat Rajeswari Mhetre and Suhas Dandekar, yet another Maharashtra pair, 3-0 in the second semi-final.

The mixed doubles finals will be tomorrow. The singles main draw events with men's and women's doubles are underway.

Results:

Mixed Doubles 40+: Semi-finals: Chandrani Dey Ganguly/ Koushikdev Sarkar (WB) bt Anjana P Rao/CR Satyajit (Kar) 11-8, 8-11, 11-2, 11-7; Soumya Narendrapra/Sandeep Kannambadi (Kar) bt Vinita J. Shukla/Onkar Hari Jog (Mah) 10-12, 9-11, 11-7, 11-6, 14-12.

Mixed Doubles 50+: Semi-finals: Shilpa Joshi/Manish Rawat (Mah) bt Neha Patel/Malay K Thakkar (Guj) 11-7, 11-7, 11-7; Sonal Joshi/Hiral Mehta (Guj) bt Rashmi Soni/Kishore Motwani (MP) 2-11, 11-4, 11-5, 9-11, 13-11.

Mixed Doubles 60+: Semi-finals: Mantu Murmu/Jaswinder Singh Pateja (WB) bt Rohini Vasant Ailwar/Pramod Desai (Mah) 11-9, 13-11, 11-7; Karabi Maity/Subhamoy Chatterjee (WB) bt Neeta Kulkarni/Purshotam M (Mah) 11-8, 6-11, 11-6, 12-10.

Mixed Doubles 65+: Semi-finals: Mangal Saraf/Yogesh Desi (Mah) bt Sunanda Rao/Shivanand Kundaje (Mah) 11-4, 11-4, 11-7; Mythili Sodhi/Jayant Kulkarni (Mah) bt Rajeswari Mhetre/Suhas Dandekar (Mah) 17-15, 11-4, 11-6.