Comprising of debutants, the Tamil Nadu women’s team entered the medal round of the table tennis event of the 36th National Games, with a thrilling 3-2 win over Karnataka, here on Tuesday.
Tamil Nadu will now face top seed Maharashtra, which had an all-win record in Group-A, in the semifinals on Wednesday. The former was a bronze medallist at the last Games in 2015.
In the last women’s Group-B match of the day to decide the second team to qualify for the last four, Tamil Nadu pipped Karnataka 3-2 to book its spot. In the fifth and deciding rubber, C.R. Harshavardini fought back, after losing the first two games, to overcome V. Kushi 5-11, 9-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-6.
“It was the usual pressure that one encounters in the fifth rubber. I am very happy that I could come through. I last played and won against Kushi in the 2018 Youth National-ranking tournament in Vijayawada,” said Harshavardini to The Hindu.
West Bengal will take on Telangana in the other women’s semifinal.
Top seed Gujarat will take on West Bengal while Maharashtra, seeded second, will clash with Delhi in the men’s semifinals.
In their third and last group match, Gujarat blanked Telangana with Harmeet Desai, Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah scripting victories.
Important results:
Men: Group A: Gujarat bt Telangana 3-0; B: Maharashtra bt Karnataka 3-0.
Women: (Stage I, Round 3): Group-A: Maharashtra bt Haryana 3-2; B: West Bengal bt U.P. 3-0; Tamil Nadu bt Karnataka 3-2 (S. Yashini bt V. Kushi 11-5, 13-11, 11-9; C.R. Harshavardini lost to Yashaswini Ghorpade 7-11,8-11,11-8, 2-11; V. Kowshika bt Mariya Rony 11-5, 11-8, 6-11, 11-6; Yashini lost to Yashwaswini 7-11, 11-8, 11-13, 11-7, 8-11; Harshavardini bt Kushi 5-11, 9-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-6).
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