Gandhidham: West Bengal, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu maintained their dominance with confident performances to book their place in the semi-finals of the U15 boys’ team event at the 87th UTT Inter-State Sub-Junior and Cadet National Table Tennis Championships to be held at the MP Mittra Indoor Stadium in the Haresh Sangtani Sports Complex.
Gujarat marked a significant milestone in their campaign, storming into the medal round for the first time in the championship’s history with a comfortable 3-0 victory over PSPBA. The home side showed remarkable composure and cohesion, much to the delight of the local fans. Vivaan Dave led from the front with a dominant back-to-back win and set the tone early on, while Dev Bhatt tightened Gujarat’s control with a confident performance despite losing a game. Their doubles pairing of Vivaan and Dev then combined seamlessly to end the tie in straight games, highlighting Gujarat’s growing stature and all-round strength. Their confident progress not only ensured a place in the semi-finals, but also secured a historic medal.
Earlier, West Bengal delivered one of the most convincing performances in the quarterfinals, defeating Rajasthan 3-0. Aditya Das set the tone with a back-to-back win over Tushar Ramchandani while Rishaan Chattopadhyay kept the momentum going with another convincing win against Aarav Acharya. The doubles pair of Aditya and Rishaan then efficiently sealed the tie despite a brief resistance from the Rajasthan duo.
Maharashtra were also confident in their 3-0 win over Telangana, although there was a brief challenge in the opening game. Nilay Pattekar recovered after losing the first game to defeat Bolishetty Yashvasin and Prateek Tulsani saw off Harshith Bachupalli in a hard-fought five-game clash to ensure Maharashtra’s smooth passage.
Tamil Nadu faced the toughest opposition among the quarterfinal winners but edged out NCOE 3-1 in a thrilling battle. Akash Rajavelu gave Tamil Nadu an early lead but K. Akshay Bhushan’s loss to Somdev Sengupta allowed NCOE to equalise. The doubles pair of Aakshay and JN Sanjey Arwindh restored the lead before Akash returned to overtake Somdev and take the crucial point in a thrilling five-game match.
Earlier, the pre-quarterfinals went largely as expected, with West Bengal, Telangana, Maharashtra and Gujarat registering comfortable 3-0 wins over Delhi, Odisha, Karnataka and Goa respectively. Rajasthan, NCOE and Tamil Nadu also progressed without much trouble, while PSPBA beat Punjab 3-0 to complete the quarterfinal line-up.
The winners will play in the semi-finals later tonight.
Results:
U-15 Youth Boys: Quarterfinals: West Bengal vs Rajasthan 3-0 (Aditya Das vs Tushar Ramchandani 11-8, 12-10, 11-8, Rishaan Chattopadhyay vs Aarav Acharya 11-9, 11-9, 11-9, Aditya/Rishaan vs Aarav/Tushar 11-6, 7-11, 11-9, 11-8); Maharashtra vs Telangana 3-0 (Nilay Pattekar vs Bolishetty Yashvasin 8-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-5, Prateek Tulsani vs Harshith Bachupalli 11-13, 11-5, 11-8, 6-11, 11-8); Gujarat vs. PSPBA 3-0 (Vivaan Dave vs. Viren Patil 11-4, 11-9, 11-5, Dev Bhatt vs. S. Karmeghakannan 11-9, 11-7, 2-11, 11-6, Vivaan/Dev vs. Viren/Karmeghakannan 11-9, 14-12, 11-7); Tamil Nadu vs NCOE 3-1 (Akash Rajavelu vs Samriddho Bhattacharya 11-5, 11-8, 10-12, 11-9, K. Akshay Bhushan lost to Somdev Sengupta 11-8, 7-11, 10-12, 3-11, Aakshay/JN Sanjey Arwindhb t Samriddho/Somdev 11-6, 9-11, 11-9, 11-7, Akash bt Somdev 6-11, 8-11, 11-4, 12-10, 11-9).
Pre-quarterfinals: West Bengal vs Delhi 3-0; Rajasthan vs Madhya Pradesh 3-1; Telangana vs Odisha 3-0; Maharashtra vs Karnataka 3-0; Gujarat vs Goa 3-0; PSPBA vs. Punjab 3-0; NCOE vs. Uttar Pradesh 3-1; Tamil Nadu defeated Haryana 3-0.
