Surat, Sept 20:  If the 36th edition of the National Games got off to a fine start at the nicely-decked up Pt. Deendayal Upadhyaya Indoor Stadium, the results at the end of the first-round matches in the team events pointed to favour the strong squads like Maharashtra and West Bengal in the women’s section after their clinical performances against their rivals here today.

As for the men’s team events, hosts Gujarat and Delhi, the No. 1 and 2 ranked teams in Group A, and Maharashtra and West Bengal in Group B seem to have held their grip firmly, winning their first-round matches.

In the afternoon, both the women and men have their crucial matches, pitting the No. 1 and 2 team in respective groups. These match-ups will determine who goes on to top their groups to strengthen their chances for the top-of-the podium finish.

All the stage I group clashes get over tonight in a schedule that stretches up to 9 p.m. at least, if not late.

Unlike the women’s first-round matches—except the match between Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh—one match in the men’s Group A had the pulse rate raise, thanks to a fine performance put up by Telangana’s SFR Snehit, who won both his singles. However, in the end, it was Delhi that beat Telangana 3-2 in a tie that went down to the wire. Payas won the last rubber, beating Mohammed Ali 3-0 to clinch it in favour of Delhi.

Before that, Yashansh Malik provided the impetus with a 3-2 win over veteran Aman Balgu after Sudhanshu Grover won the first against Ali.

Kushi Viswanath bailed out Karnataka after Radhapriya Goel let her rival come close to make it 9-all and take the decider, as Karnataka won 3-2. Yashaswini Ghorphade, the gold (mixed doubles) and bronze (singles) medal winner was off-colour on the day and lost both her singles to put pressure on Kushi, who was playing the last rubber.

Results:

Women’s Team (Round 1):

Group A: Maharashtra bt Gujarat 3-0 (Diya Chitale bt Chipia Frenaz 11-9, 11-6, 12-10; Swastika Ghosh bt Krittwika Sinha Roy 11-4, 10-12, 11-4, 7-11, 11-9; Reeth Rishya bt Filzahfatema Kadri 11-9, 11-7, 7-11, 11-4; Telangana bt Haryana 3-1 (Varuni Jaswail lost to Suhana Saini 9-11, 9-11, 6-11; Sreeja Akula bt Riti Shankar 11-9, 11-6, 11-3; Nikhat Banu bt Sanya Sehgal 11-8, 16-14, 11-7; Sreeja Akula bt Suhana Saini 11-4, 11-5, 12-10.

Group B: West Bengal bt Tamil Nadu 3-1 (Sutirtha Mukherjee bt V. Kowshika 11-7, 11-9, 11-5; Ayhika Mukherjee bt S. Yashini 13-11, 4-11, 11-7, 11-5; Sutirtha Mukherjee bt S. Yashini 11-2, 11-7, 11-13, 11-7; Karnataka bt Uttar Pradesh 3-2 (Kushi Viswanath bt Suhana Narjinary 12-10, 7-11, 11-7, 14-12; Yashaswini Ghorphade lost to Radhapriya Goel 11-6, 10-12, 12-10, 9-11, 8-11; Mariya Rony bt Suhani Mahajan 11-7, 11-6, 13-11; Yashaswini Ghorpade lost to Suhana Narjinary 8-11, 11-4, 11-4, 10-12, 10-12, Kushi Viswanath bt Radhapriya Goel 7-11, 11-7, 11-3, 11-9.

Men’s Team (Round 1):

Group A: Gujarat bt Haryana 3-0 (Harmeet Desai bt Soumyajit Ghosh 11-9, 9-11, 11-3, 11-9; Manav Thakkar bt Wesley Do Rossario 11-4, 11-4, 11-2; Manush Shah bt Jubin Kumar 12-10, 10-12, 12-10, 11-8; Delhi bt Telangana 3-2 (Sudhanshu Grover bt Mohammed Ali 11-5, 8-11, 12-10, 11-1; Payas Jain lost to SFR Snehit 11-4, 7-11, 9-11, 4-11; Yashansh Malik bt Aman Balgu 6-11, 11-13, 11-6, 11-5, 11-4; Sudhanshu Grover lost to SFR Snehit 11-7, 11-9, 10-12, 5-11, 7-11; Payas Jain bt Mohammed Ali 11-7, 15-13, 11-8.

Group B: West Bengal bt Karnataka 3-0 (Jeet Chandra bt Rakshi Barigidad 12-14, 11-13. 11-3. 11=6; Ronit Bhanja bt Samarth Kurdikeri 11-5, 12-10, 11-6; Anirban Ghosh bt K.J. Akash 11-7, 11-3, 11-6; Maharashtra bt Uttar Pradesh 3-1 (Sanil Shetty bt Divyansh Srivastava 11-9, 11-5, 7-11, 11-9; Siddesh Pande bt Abhishek Yadav 7-11, 11-7, 4-11, 11-4, 11-8; Deepit R Patil lost to Sarth Mishra 4-1, 8-11, 11-6, 11-6, 9-11; Sanil Shetty bt Abhishek Yadav 11-4, 11-9, 9-11, 11-6.