Petroleum bag three out of four titles in National TT

The Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) won three of the four team titles that were decided Thursday in the 73rd Junior and Youth National Table Tennis Championships at the Municipal Corporation Stadium here.

PSPB emerged winners in the finals of won junior boys, youth boys and youth girls category.

West Bengal had a consolation prize in the form of junior girls’ title after pounding Tamil Nadu 3-0. Hosts North Bengal girls, who famously upset holders Andhra Pradesh late Wednesday night, could not sustain the onslaught of their bitter rivals West Bengal.

But the story of the day was the determination and perseverance shown by PSPB paddlers who, without exception, wore out their opponents with crisp shots off both back and fore hands and great smashes.

In the youth boys final, Harmeet Desai beat Maharashtra A’s Noel Pinto in straight games while Soumyajit Ghosh followed suit with his sharp play against Sanmay Paranjape 12-10, 11-8, 11-8 and G. Sathiyan dismissed Subhankar Renavikar 11-6, 12-10, 11-4.

The youth girls title also went to PSPB as Manika Batra, Ankita Das and Pooja proved too hot for West Bengal’s Krittwika Sinha Roy, Sutirtha Mukherjee and Supsa Bhattacharya.

In the final of the junior boys, Sudanshu Grover and Abhishek Yadav were too brutal against their Delhi opponents Peeyush Prasad and Utkarsh Gupta. Utkarsh tried to make a match of it by taking a game off left-hander Abhishek but the latter proved too tough a nut to crack with his whipping forehand kills. Then the PSPB duo combined to outsmart Abhishek Jaggi and Prakhar Bhatt in the doubles to take the crown.

But what sent some shocking waves was the way the Tamil Nadu junior girls capitulated against determined West Bengal paddlers. Tamil Nadu’s No. 1 Narasimha Priya was the lone player who managed to put Ayhika Mukherjee under some pressure. But Ayikha was up to the tricks to win 11-9, 11-9, 10-12, 11-9.

Sutirtha Mukherjee defeated Yukti Roshni in straight games of 13-11, 11-7, 11-6 and then Sutirtha and Ayhika combined to beat Narasimha Priya and Amrutha Pushkar in straight games to reclaim the crown.

Results:Junior Boys (Final): PSPB-A bt Delhi 3-0 (Sudanshu Grover bt Peeyush Prasad 14-12, 11-9, 11-9, Abhishek Yadav bt Utkarsh Gupta 11-6, 9-11, 11-6, 16-14, Sudanshu/Abhishek bt Abishek Jaggi/Prakhar Bhatt 11-6, 11-3, 11-6; SEMI-FINALS: PSPB-A bt West Bengal 3-0 (Sudanshu Grover bt Anirban Ghosh 13-11, 11-4, 11-5, Abhishek Yadav bt Pathikrit Roy 9-11, 9-11, 11-5, 12-10, 14-12, Sudanshu/Abhishek bt Anirban/Pathikrit 11-7, 12-10, 11-6; Delhi bt Rajasthan 3-0 (Peeyush Prasad bt Shubham Ojha 11-9, 11-2, 11-9, Utkarsh Gupta bt Ved Vyas 11-5, 8-11, 13-11, 11-5, Utkarsh/Abhishek Jaggi bt Shubham/Ved Vyas 11-5, 11-7, 13-11.

Junior Girls (Final): West Bengal bt Tamil Nadu 3-0 (Ayhika Mukherjee bt Narsimha Praya S 11-9, 11-9, 10-12, 11-9, Suthrtha Mukherjee bt Yukti Roshni 13-11, 11-7, 11-6, Ayhika/Suthrtha bt Narasimha Priya/Amrutha Pushpak 11-7, 11-5, 11-9; SEMIFINALS: West Bengal bt North Bengal 3-0 (Ayhika Mukherjee bt Anuska Dutta 11-0, 11-6, 11-9, Sutirtha Mukherjee bt Oishwarya Deb 11-8, 2-11, 11-6, 10-12, 11-3, Sutirtha/Ayhika bt Anuska/Oishwarya 12-10, 11-4, 11-7; Tamil Nadu bt Maharashtra- A 3-0 (Yuki Roshni bt Mallika Bhandarkar 11-6, 6-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-8, Narasimha Priya bt Senhora D’Souza 11-8, 12-10, 5-11, 3-11, 11-6, Narasimha Priya/Amruta Pushpak bt Mallika Bhandarkar/Rutuja Kopkar 14-16, 11-7, 11-8, 13-1.

Youth Boys (Final): PSPB bt Maharashtra-A 3-0 (Harmeet Desai bt Noel Pinto 11-7, 12-10, 11-8, Soumyajit Ghosh bt Sanmay paranjpae 12-10, 11-8, 11-8, G. Sathiyan bt Shubhankar Renavikar 11-6, 12-10, 11-4; SEMIFINALS: PSPB bt West Bengal 3-0 (Harmeet Desai bt Susovan Das 11-5, 11-5, 11-8, Soumyajit Ghosh bt Souvik Kar 12-10, 11-9, 11-8, G. Sathyan bt Snehamoy Mallick 11-7, 11-4, 11-6; Maharashtra A bt Delhi 3-1 (Noel Pinto bt Sarthak Gandhi 3-11, 12-10, 5-11, 11-4, 11-7, Sanmay Paranjape bt Pranshu Gupta 11-7, 11-7, 11-13, 11-7, Suhubhankar Renavikar lost to Utkarsh Gupta 9-11, 11-9, 11-7, 7-11, 9-11, Sanmay Paranjape bt Sarthak Gandhi 11-7, 11-7, 11-9.

Youth Girls (Final): PSPB bt West Bengal 3-0 (Manika Batra bt Krittwika Sinha Roy 11-9, 11-9, 11-7, Ankita Das bt Sutirtha Mukherjee 11-9, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5, Pooja bt Rupsa Bhattacharya 11-8, 11-9, 11-5; SEMIFINALS: PSPB bt Andhra Pradesh 3-0 (Ankita Das bt Karnam Spoorthy 11-7, 11-9, 7-11, 12-10, Pooja Saharabudhe bt Nikhat Bhanu 11-8, 11-13, 12-10, 7-11, 12-10, Manika Batra bt Naina 11-7, 11-9, 11-9; West Bengal bt Tamil Nadu 3-1 (Krittwika S Roy bt Sumana R Krishnan 11-8, 9-11, 11-3, 2-11, 11-5, Sutirtha Mukherjee bt Vidya N 11-9, 11-6, 12-10, Srey Ghosh lost to Narasimha Priya 13-11, 11-6, 5-11, 6-11, 9-11, Suthrtha Mukherjee bt Sumana R Krishnan 17-15, 11-3, 11-4.