Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Delhi enter pre-quarterfinals in U19 table tennis
Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Delhi advanced to the pre-quarterfinals in the Under-19 Girls’ team event at the UTT Inter-State Table Tennis Championships, while several other teams are close to qualification with final league matches set to decide remaining spots
Hyderabad: Powerhouses and top three seeds Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Delhi stamped their authority early, cruising into the pre-quarterfinals from their respective groups in the Under-19 Girls’ team event at the UTT 87th Inter-State Junior and Youth National Table Tennis Championships, which got underway at the Multipurpose Hall, Parade Ground, in Dehradun on Tuesday.
With just one round of league matches remaining — Telangana vs Punjab (Group A), Uttarakhand vs Assam (Group B) and PSPBA vs Chandigarh (Group C) — the outcomes will have little impact on the three dominant leaders, who have already sealed their progression. However, the final round will determine the second qualifiers from each group, adding intrigue to the closing league fixtures.
Elsewhere, Maharashtra (Group D), Uttar Pradesh (Group E), NCOE (Group F), Karnataka (Group G) and Gujarat (Group H) have virtually secured their pre-quarterfinal berths. Yet, the race for the remaining knockout spots remains intense, particularly in Groups E and F, where the battle for the second qualification place is expected to go down to the wire.
Placed in a tough Group C, hosts Uttarakhand lost their match to West Bengal 0-3, but they can redeem themselves when they take on Assam in their last round later tonight.
The day witnessed a gripping contest between Chhattisgarh and Kerala, with the former edging through in a tense decider. Lavnya Pandey rose to the occasion, defeating P V Sreelakshmi 11-6, 11-9, 11-2 to seal the tie. Earlier, Lavnya had suffered a narrow loss to Gouri Niranjana, while Samaya Pandey too faltered against the same opponent in the reverse singles. It was Pragya Pathak who turned the tide, producing a resilient performance to overcome Mariya Angel in a five-game battle and give Chhattisgarh a crucial 2-1 lead.