The Hindu : Sport / Table Tennis : Easy going for fancied teams

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Monday, Jan 28, 2008
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Sport - Table Tennis

Easy going for fancied teams

Amitabha Das Sharma

SILIGURI: Fancied teams coasted to easy wins on the opening day of the 69th National inter-State table tennis championship here at the Municipal indoor stadium on Sunday.

Defending champion Petroleum won both its men’s and women’s fixtures. The women’s team comprising Neha Agarwal, Poulami Ghatak and K. Shamini blanked Chandigarh 3-0. With Jammu and Kashmir pulling out of the three-team group both Petroleum and Chandigarh were ensured of a second round berth.

In the women’s section North Bengal emerged the group topper registering facile 3-0 wins against Gujarat and Chhattisgarh. The last two teams were left to fight for the runner-up position. Bank Sports Board and Assam also won their matches to remain in the hunt for a berth in the second stage, which will be played in the knock-out format.Both the reigning women’s and men’s National champions Mouma Das and A. Sarath Kamal were felicitated in an elaborate opening ceremony.

The fixtures had to be rescheduled as four State teams — Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi — arrived late.

The results (Round I group league stage):

Men: Group A: Petroleum bt Bihar 3-0; Karnataka bt Sikkim 3-0; Group B: UP bt Tripura 3-0; Railways bt Orissa 3-0; Group C: Kerala bt J&K 3-1; Group D: West Bengal bt Chandigarh 3-0; Assam bt Meghalaya 3-0; Group E: Punjab bt Andaman & Nicobar 3-0; Group F: Andhra Pradesh bt Puducherry 3-0; Group G: Maharashtra ‘B’ bt Goa 3-0; Gujarat bt Mizoram 3-0; Gujarat bt Goa 3-0; Group H: Uttarakhand bt Himachal Pradesh 3-1; Tamil Nadu bt HP 3-0.

Women: Group A: Petroleum bt Chandigarh 3-0; Group B: North Bengal bt Gujarat 3-0; NB bt Chhattisgarh 3-0; Group D: West Bengal bt Punjab 3-0; Group E: Andhra Pradesh bt Sikkim 3-0; Kerala bt Sikkim 3-0; Group F: Orissa bt Himachal Pradesh 3-1; Group G: Assam bt Bihar 3-0; Group H: Bank bt Uttarakhand 3-0.