West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh will clash for the coveted team title in the 85th edition of the UTT Inter-State Youth and Junior National Table Tennis Championships at the Netaji Indoor Stadium.In the first semi final played last night, the hosts beat Tamil Nadu 3-0, and UP defeated the National Centre for Excellence (NCOE) 3-1 in the second SF.The final is stated for Saturday.
Ankur Bhattacharjee, as usual, put Bengal 1-0 up with his fast-paced game plan and reaped instant benefits against Tharun Shanmugam. Bodhisatwa followed suit. He beat P.B. Abhinand 3-2 and consolidated their positions. Shankadip finished the job against Balamurugan, but not before dropping four tie-points in the third rubber. But in the end, the hosts secured their spot in the final.
UP started well with Sarth Mishra, who beat Praneet Bhaskaran with ease. But Divyansh, their star player, struggled against Soumil Mukherjee, taking the distance. But Divyansh ensured UP led 2-1 at that stage. However, Sridhar Joushi lost to Emon Adhikary, forcing Divyansh to revisit the table. The tall UP boy did not disappoint as he beat Praneet in straight games. The script in at least two quarterfinals went along the expected lines. Bengal thrashed Gujarat 3-0, and Tamil Nadu beat Delhi 3-1. But the other two quarterfinals had all the thrills and went the distance. NCOE beat Assam, and Uttar Pradesh overcame Maharashtra with identical 3-2 margins.
Bodhisatwa was rusty. It reflected in the Bengal's second rubber after Ankur gave a fine start. Burhanuddin Malubhaiwala stretched Bodhisatwa in the first game, which the Bengal boy won on his third game point. Though he lost the second game, he brushed aside the threat to put the team 2-0 ahead. Shankadip did not break a sweat and beat Aayush to enter the semifinals.
Priyanuj Bhattacharyya stood between NCOE and their maiden entry into the medal round. After Praneet put NCOE in the lead, Soumil Mukherjee went down in straight games to Priyanuj. Emon repaired the damage to restore the lead, but Praneet could not cope with Priyanuj's pace and accuracy, allowing Assam to level 2-2.
Once the matter went to the decider, NCOE had the upper hand. But Soumil did not have the desired start and lost 10-12. Yet, he dared to hold his nerves, won the next three games against Jyoti Hriday Sarma, and took his side into the semifinals.
The reverse single between Divyansh Srivastava and Jash Modi was to decide the fate of UP and Maharashtra. And it eventually did, after Divyansh outplayed the lanky Maharashtrian in the fifth game. Until then, the rubber was in balance and kept the chances even. Once Divyansh did his job, it became easy for Sarth Mishra. He led 2-1 in the decider against Kushal Chopda and did not matter to the outcome even when he dropped the third game.
Divyansh beat Kushal 3-0 in the first rubber, but Sarth went 1-3 down to Jash in the second. However, the win helped Sagar Kasture put up a brave front to overcome Shridhar Joushi 3-1.(UNI)<>