Punjab men's campaign comes to an end

By S. Sabanayakan

CUTTACK, JAN. 6. Last year's finalist Punjab went out of the 62nd National and inter- State table tennis championship failing to qualify from Group B at the Jawahar Lal Nehru Indoor Stadium here on Saturday. Maharashtra B topped the group and joined the other group winners, PSCB (Group A), Bengal (Group C) and Rajasthan (Group D) in the quarterfinals to be played on Sunday morning.

All the group runners-up and third placed finishers were drawn in the lot for the pre-quarterfinal lineup. Tamil Nadu and Bihar moved up from Group A, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh from Group B, Railways and Karnataka from Group C and Delhi and Uttar Pradesh made it from Group D.

In the pre-quarterfinals, UP will take on Gujarat, AP will meet Delhi, Bihar will clash with Railways and Tamil Nadu will take on Karnataka.

Manish Bharadwaj of Chandigarh has been debarred from taking further part in the ongoing Nationals for misbehaving in the playing arena after his team lost to Railways in a late night match on Friday.

The top four seeds in the women's section - holder PSCB, runner- up Railways, last year's semifinalists Bengal and Tamil Nadu topped their respective groups to enter the quarterfinals. The other two finishers from each group will play in the pre- quarterfinals.

As per the draw done on lots, Assam (C2) will take on Maharashtra A (B3), Uttranchal (B2), playing in its first National, and Maharashtra B (C3) will play each other in the top half fixture. Madhya Pradesh (D3) will clash with Punjab (A2) while gujarat (A3) will challenge Delhi (D2) in the bottom half.

The results (team championship):

Men:

Group A: Kerala bt Uttaranchal 3- 1; Bihar bt Sikkim 3-0; TN bt Orissa 3-0; PSCB bt Kerala 3-0 TN bt Sikkim 3-0; Bihar bt Pondicherry 3-0; Orissa bt Uttaranchal 3- 0; Uttranchal bt Sikkim 3-0; TN bt Pondicherry 3-0; PSCB bt Bihar 3-0; Orissa bt Kerala 3-0; PSCB bt Orissa 3-0; TN bt Bihar 3-0; Kerala bt Sikkim 3-0; Pondicherry bt Uttaranchal 3-1; PSCB bt TN 3-1; Orissa bt Sikkim 3-0; Bihar bt Uttaranchal 3-0; Kerala bt Pondicherry 3-2.

Group B: Maharashtra B bt Assam 3-1; Gujarat bt J & K 3-0; Assam bt Jharkhand 3-0; AP bt Punjab 3-0; Gujarat bt Punjab 3-2; AP bt Assam 3-2; Maharashtra B bt J & K 3- 1; Punjab bt Assam 3-2; Maharashtra B bt Gujarat 3-2; J&K bt Jharkhand 3-1; Punjab bt Maharashtra B 3-0; Gujarat bt Jharkhand 3-0; AP bt J & K 3-0.

Group C: Railways bt Haryana 3-0; Chandigarh bt Goa 3-0; Bengal bt Karnataka 3-0; Railways bt Chandigarh 3-0; Karnataka bt Goa 3- 0; Maharashtra A bt Haryana 3- 0; Karnataka bt Chandigarh 3-1; Bengal bt Haryana 3-0; Railways bt Karnataka 3-0; Bengal bt Maharashtra A 3-0; Haryana bt Goa 3- 2; Bengal bt Railways 3-1; Maharashtra bt Goa 3-0; Chandigarh bt Haryana 3-1.

Group D: UP bt Tripura 3-0; Chhattisgarh bt HP 3-1; Rajasthan bt Delhi 3-1; MP bt Tripura 3-0; UP bt HP 3- 0; Delhi bt Chhattisgarh 3-1; Delhi bt HP 3-0; Rajasthan bt Tripura 3-0; Rajasthan bt MP; 3-1; Chhattisgarh bt Tripura 3-0; Rajasthan bt UP 3-1; Chhattisgarh bt MP 3-1; MP bt Tripura 3-0.

Women:

Group A: Gujarat bt Jharkhand 3- 0; Punjab bt Rajasthan 3-2; PSCB bt Gujarat 3-0; Punjab bt Jharkhand 3-0; PSCB bt UP 3-0; Punjab bt Gujarat 3-0; PSCB bt Punjab 3-0; UP bt Rajasthan 3-2; Jharkhand w/o Tripura; PSCB bt Rajasthan 3-0; UP bt Jharkhand 3- 0; Gujarat w/o Tripura.

Group B: Karnataka bt Kerala 3-2; Railways bt HP 3-0; Uttaranchal bt Pondicherry 3-0; Maharashtra A bt Kerala 3-0; Railways bt Pondicherry 3-0; Karnataka bt HP 3-0; Railways bt Karnataka 3-0; Kerala bt Pondicherry 3-0; Maharashtra A bt HP 3-0; Railways bt Kerala 3-0; Maharashtra A bt Karnataka 3-0; Uttranchal bt HP 3-0; Railways bt Maharashtra A 3-0; Uttaranchal bt Karnataka 3-2.

Group C: Assam bt Orissa 3-0; Maharashtra B bt Bihar 3-0; Bengal w/o J & K; Chhattisgarh bt Orissa 3-1; Assam bt Maharashtra B 3- 1; Bengal bt Orissa 3-0; Bihar w/o J & K; Maharasthra B bt Chhattisgarh 3-1; Uttranchal bt Kerala 3-2; Bengal bt Bihar 3-0; Maharashtra B bt Orissa 3-0; Assam w/o J&K; Bengal bt Maharashtra B 3-2; Assam bt Bihar 3-0; Chhattisgarh w/o J & K; Bengal bt Assam 3-1; Chhattisgarh bt Bihar 3-1; Orissa w/o J & K.

Group D: Delhi bt Haryana 3-0; TN bt MP 3-1; AP bt Chandigarh 3- 2; TN bt Chandigarh 3-0; Delhi bt MP 3-2; AP bt Haryana 3-0; Chandigarh bt Haryana 3-0; MP bt AP 3-0; TN bt Delhi 3-1.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : Cojuangco, 61st Cavalry come up trumps
Next     : Another day in the office for Stoliorov