Hyderabad, January 28: Delhi had to toil for 37 years to enter the final but the wait was worth all its trouble as their men paddlers blanked out Gujarat 3-0 to achieve the results in the UTT 81st National Table Tennis Championships at the Saroonagar Indoor Stadium here today.

They will take on Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB), who thrashed Telangana 3-0, in the all-important final tomorrow. But the biggest shock was in store for PSPB women as Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) beat the stuffing out with a 3-2 verdict in a three-and-a-half our semifinal as Takeme Sarkar anchored Railways with two singles victories. But the crucial deciding rubber was won when a  cool Sagarika Mukherjee beat Madhurika Patkar in straight games.

The last time Delhi lifted the men’s trophy was way back in 1983 at New Delhi in the 45th edition of the championships, having won the title in the previous edition in 1982 at Indore. After that only two bronze have come their way, in 1995 at Pondicherry Nationals and last year at Cuttack.

After Sudhanshu Grover had given the lead, beating Ishaan Hingorani 11-8, 11-4, 11-5, it was expected of Gujarat to bounce back through Manush Shah. But Parth Virmani played intensely to beat the southpaw 11-9, 10-12, 11-7, 6-11, 11-8 with the rubber tied at 2-2. The match saw some long rallies with both players having good control except in the decider when Manush lost to the brilliance of Parth. 

In the third rubber, 42-year-old Jignesh Jaiswal could not reproduce the form he displayed against Haryana as the junior national champion, Payas Jain, accounted for him in four sets to seal the fate of Gujarat. 

Bronze for Haryana women 

Haryana women strived hard before going down 2-3 to title-holders Bengal ‘A’ as Mousumi Paul played the spoiler winning the deciding rubber against Riti Shankar, who lost both her singles. In fact, Haryana’s chances were kept alive when Sutirtha defeated both Mousumi Paul and Prapti Sen but Suhana Saini, playing the crucial third rubber, went down to Surbhi Patwari 1-3, after taking the first set. That’s where the balance tilted as Bengal led 2-1 before Sutirtha brought the score level.  

After Reeth Rishya put PSPB ahead when she beat Sagarika 3-2, Takeme defeated Madhurika by a similar margin to level the score. Yet, when Krittiwika Sinha Roy downed Kaushani Nath 3-1, all eyes were on Reeth to finish it off for PSPB. Contrary to expectations, it was Takeme who beat Reeth in straight games before Sagrika upped the ante in the last rubber. 

Earlier during the day, Haryana paddlers had excellent outings in both the men and women’s sections, but it was the women who won several hearts when they beat Maharashtra ‘A’ 3-2 in the quarterfinals. However, it was a sad end to Haryana’s men who were consumed by a determined Gujarat 3-1.

There was some good news for the hosts, too. Their men’s team defeated TTTA, one of the two Tamil Nadu teams that made it to the quarterfinals, 3-1, while the latter’s women squad was outplayed 3-0 by Bengal’s A team.

Haryana’s Sutirtha Mukehrjee played her role to perfection, winning both her opening and fourth singles which brought the team back on track as Maharashtra A had taken a 2-1 lead through Anannya Basak, who beat Riti Shankar 11-4, 11-5, 9-11, 7-11, 11-7, and Diya Chitale, who downed Anjali Rohilla, a defensive player, 10-12, 11-2, 11-5, 11-7.

Sutirtha, who provided the lead for Haryana after beating Mamata Prabhu 11-3, 11-9, 11-3, provided the oxygen through a 5-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-9 win over Anannya, the little girl managing a game against the Haryana paddler. In the deciding rubber, Riti dropped her second game but pulled it off nicely to overcome the experienced Mamata 11-7, 9-11, 11-6, 12-10. 

As for Haryana men, Manush Shah was the real thorn in their flesh as former national champion Soumyajit Ghosh found to his chagrin. After putting Haryana 1-0 up, Ghosh played the crucial fourth rubber to keep his state in the hunt. However, the left-hander hit the grove after dropping the first set, to beat his opponent 7-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-6 to end the agony for Haryana. 

In the opening rubber, Ghosh defeated Ishaan Hingorani 11-3, 11-5, 11-4 but Jeet Chandra lost 11-9, 1-11, 8-11, 7-11. The turning point for Haryana, however, was the loss that Jubin Kumar suffered at the hands of Jignesh Jaiswal. The oldest player on view at the nationals beat the left-hander 11-7, 12-10, 6-11, 9-11, 11-8. Ghosh wilted under the mountain of pressure as Manush had the last laugh.

This was the first time ever that the hosts men, after the state of Telangana was carved out of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh in 2014, made it to the medal round when they downed TTTA 3-1, thanks to SFR Snehit, who played a stellar role when he had to take both his singles—first against E. Prabhakaran and Nitin Thiruvengdam.

Snehit put Telangana in the lead beating Prabhakaran 12-10, 12-10, 11-4 but Mohammed Ali lost to experienced Nitin who won 17-15, 11-9, 4-11 11-5, bringing pressure back on Telangana. But captain Aman Balgu, despite hiccups, managed to put it across Nikhil Suresh. With the rubber hanging by a thin thread at 2-2 in the third rubber, Aman won (11-9, 8-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-0)) and the last set without conceding a point! Then, Snehit drove the last nail with a 12-14, 11-7, 11-6, 11-5 triumph, to assure their team at least the bronze medals. When it was a unified Andhra Pradesh, their men’s squad, led by Mir Qasim Ali, had beaten a strong Maharashtra for the gold in 1969.

Results: (Team Championship): 

Men: Semifinals: PSPB bt Telangana 3-0 (A. Sharath Kamal bt SFR Snehit 11-7, 8-11, 11-4, 11-5, G. Sathiyan bt Aman Balgu 11-3, 11-2, 11-3, Harmeet Desai bt Mohammad Ali 11-5, 11-5, 12-10); Delhi bt Gujarat 3-0 (Sudhanshu Grover bt Ishaan Hingorani 11-8, 11-4, 11-5, Parth Virmani bt Mansh Shah 11-9, 10-12, 11-7, 6-11, 11-8, Payas Jain bt Jignesh Jaiswal 14-12, 11-7, 8-11, 11-5).

Quarterfinals: Petroleum bt Maharashtra ‘A’ 3-0; Telangana bt TTTA 3-1; Delhi bt Bengal ‘A’ 3-1; Haryana bt Gujarat 3-1.

Women: Semifinals: RSPB bt PSPB 3-2 (Sagarika Mukherjee lost to Reeth Rishya 11-8, 12-10, 7-11, 8-11, 7-11, Takeme Sarkar bt Madhurika Patkar 11-7, 7-11, 14-12, 8-11, 11-8, Kaushani Nath lost to Krittwika Sinha Roy 9-11, 6-11, 11-7, 10-12, Takeme Sarkar bt Reeth Rishya 11-9, 11-6, 13-11, Sagarika Mukherjee bt Madhurika Patkar 11-9, 12-10, 11-8); Bengal ‘A’ bt Haryana 3-2 (Prapti Sen bt Riti Shankar 12-10, 11-3, 11-7, Mousumi Paul lost to Sutirtha Mukherjee 7-11,7-11, 3-11, Surbbi Patwari bt Suhana Saini 2-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-7, Prapti Sen lost to Sutirtha Mukherjee 2-11, 5-11, 7-11, Mousumi Paul bt Riti Shankar 11-4, 14-12, 11-6); 

Quarterfinals: Bengal ‘A’ bt TTTA 3-0; Haryana bt Maharashtra ‘A’ 3-2; Railways bt Maharashtra ‘B’ 3-0; Petroleum bt Karnataka 3-0.