J&K men, women lose in group stages
NL Corresspondent
Jammu Mar 20: Unseeded Assam upset the applecart of Uttar Pradesh with a 3-2 verdict in the first-round match of the Group H encounter in the 84th UTT Inter-State National Table Tennis Championships at the Gymnasium Hall of University of Jammu, here today.
In the men section, J&K lost their league tie to Karnataka 1-3 while the women lost in both their outings to Goa and RBI.
On the other hand, UP team which finished a quarterfinalist in the last edition in Meghalaya, were a little upset when pushed to the eighth position in seeding during the open draw held yesterday, failed to live up to expectations and proved the seeding more than justified.
The UP had three experienced players in their ranks, led by Abhishek Yadav, Divyansh Srivastava and Sarth Mishra, who could have done justice to their selection and made a bright beginning to the campaign here. However, Shankab Barua did the star turn for Assam, winning both his singles, especially after trailing 1-2 against Divyansh and single-handedly plotting the downfall of UP.
It was a positive beginning for Abhishek Yadav when he accounted for Abniv Bhaskar Gohain 11-8, 11-6, 11-8 in less than 25 minutes. But Shankab Barua, a good prospect, consolidated when he held his nerves after losing the third game (11-13) to win the next two to put Assam 2-0 up. The promising youth player, Priyanuj Bhattacharyya, should have wrapped it up when he led 2-1 in the fourth game. But he lost two tie points while Sarth Mishra converted his third game point to reduce the margin.
With UP leading 2-1, nobody would have given a grain of chance to Assam. But, surprisingly, Shankab turned the tables on the experienced Abhishek as the UP left-hander found himself at the receiving end when the Assam lad beat him 12-10, 11-6, 11-9 to restore parity and take the issue to the decider.
Agniv played sensibly and did not fall into the trap of Divyansh, who has grown in stature. But the Assam paddler, making most of some negative points, beat Divyans 11-9, 7-11, 11-9, 11-9 in what were close calls in all three games he won.
Nothing is lost for UP as they can still qualify from the group as the second team. But other seeded teams went through the motions in their group matches, almost ensuring their pre-quarterfinal berths. However, a clear picture of the second qualifier from each group will emerge after the third/fourth round matches tomorrow.
As for the women's team events, the group leaders seemed fully entrenched with their easy triumphs over their first-round opponents, thus ensuring their passage into the knockout stage.
The pre-quarterfinals will be played tomorrow after the completion of league engagements.Results (Incomplete):
Men's Team:
Group A: Round 1: PSPB bt Andhra Pradesh 3-0. Group B: Round 1: Punjab bt Sikkim 3-0; RSPB bt Nagaland 3-0. Group C: Round 1: TTFI 1 bt Ladakh 3-0; Ddelhi bt Kerala 3-0. Group D: Round 1: Haryana bt Meghalaya 3-0; Uttarakhand bt Chhattisgarh 3-1. Group E: Round 1: West Bengal bt Arunachal Pradesh 3-0. Group F: Round 1: MP bt Andaman & Nicobar 3-0; Telangana bt Bihar 3-0; Karnataka bt J&K 3-1. Group G: Round 1: Gujarat bt Himachal Pradesh 3-0; Maharashtra bt Himachal Pradesh 3-0; Gujarat bt Daman & Diu 3-0; Round 2: Maharashtra bt Jharkhand 3-0. Group H: Round 1: Tamil Nadu bt Odisha 3-0; Assam bt UP 3-2. Round 2: UP bt Chandigarh 3-0.
Women's Team:
Group A: Round 1: Goa bt J&K 3-1; RBI bt TTFI 1 3-0. Round 2: RBI bt J&K 3-0
Group B: Round 1: PSPB bt UP 3-0; Kerala bt Punjab 3-1. Round 2: PSPB bt Punjab 3-0; Kerala bt UP 3-0. Group C: Round 1: West Bengal bt Nagaland 3-0; Chandigarh bt Meghalaya 3-0. Round 2: Chandigarh bt Nagaland 3-0. Group D: Round 1: Maharashtra bt Himachal Pradesh 3-0. Round 2: Maharashtra bt Arunachal 3-0. Group E: Round 1: Andhra Pradesh bt Arunachal Pradesh 3-0; Assam bt Chhattisgarh 3-1; MP bt Bihar 3-0; Round 2: Chhattisgarh bt Bihar 3-0. Group F: Round 1: Telangana bt Ladakh 3-0. Group G: Round 1: Haryana bt Manipur 3-0; Gujarat bt Jharkhand 3-0. Group H: Round 1: Tamil Nadu bt Odisha 3-0; Karnataka bt Uttarakhand 3-0. Round 2: Tamil Nadu bt Daman and Diu 3-0; Karnataka bt Odisha 3-1.
