West Bengal women survive a scare from Karnataka

As expected, top seed Maharashtra (Group A) and second seed West Bengal (B) virtually topped their Groups to reach the women’s table tennis semifinals at the 36th National Games here on Tuesday.

In the men’s category, Gujarat (Group A) and Maharashtra (B), the top two seeds, finished No. 1 in their respective Groups to make it to the last four.

Maharashtra women thumped Telangana 3-0 while West Bengal survived a scare from Karnataka before pulling off a 3-2 victory for their second successive triumph in their groups. In the men’s event, Gujarat thrashed Delhi 3-0 and Maharashtra blanked West Bengal 3-0.

A young Karnataka women’s team pushed Bengal which boasts of a strong side including five-time National champion Mouma Das and two-time champion Sutirtha Mukherjee in its ranks. With the match tied at 2-2, Ayhika Mukherjee used her experience to outwit 21-year-old V. Kushi with a judicious mix of forehand attack, backhand block and top spin, by employing her soft-pimpled rubbers in the fifth and deciding rubber.

Important results (Stage I, round 2):

Men: Group A:Gujarat bt Delhi 3-0 (Harmeet Desai bt Sudhanshu Grover 11-9, 11-7, 11-8; Manav Thakkar bt Payas Jain 9-11, 11-8, 11-3, 7-11, 11-7; Manush Shah bt Shubh Goel 11-5, 11-8, 11-5).

B: Maharashtra bt West Bengal 3-0 (Siddhesh Pande 11-9, 11-6, 11-8; Sanil Shetty bt Jeet Chandra 11-8, 11-9, 4-11, 1108; Deepit Patil bt Anirban Ghosh 11-4, 11-5, 6-11, 11-13, 11-4).

Women: Group A: Maharashtra bt Telangana 3-0 (Diya Parag Chitale bt Varuni Jaiswal 11-7, 12-10, 11-6; Swastika Ghosh bt Akula Sreeja 11-7, 11-9, 12-14, 4-4 (concd.); Reeth Rishya bt Nikhat Banu 6-11, 5-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-9).

B:West Bengal bt Karnataka 3-2 (Sutirtha Mukherjee bt V. Kushi 11-4, 11-4, 11-2; Ayhika Mukherjee bt Yashaswini Ghorpade 11-6, 11-, 11-8; Mouma Das lost to Maria Rony 11-9, 11-5, 3-11, 8-11, 8-11; Sutirtha lost to Yashaswini 11-7, 7-11, 11-9, 5-11, 6-11; Ayhika bt V. Kushi 11-5, 11-7, 11-4).