PSPB paddlers warm up in style

The PSPB men's team cruised to two wins, while the women crushed Uttarakhand in the opening league tie.

Manika Batra led the way in the women beginning the title defence with a 3-0 win.

Defending champion Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) men and women’s outifts kicked off its 80th 11Sports Senior National Table Tennis Championship campaign in style. While the men’s team cruised to two wins - losing just one game en route convincing wins over Bihar and Maharashtra B - to seal a place in the pre-quarterfinals, the women crushed Uttarakhand in its opening league tie.

Despite veteran A. Sharath Kamal being rested for both the matches and G. Sathiyan skipping the match against Maharashtra B, the PSPB men thrashed Bihar and Maharashtra ‘B’ with an identical margin of 3-0 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium on Friday.

The PSPB women too opened the title defence with a facile 3-0 win over Uttarakhand, with golden girl Manika Batra leading the petroleum charge.

Important results - League stage Men: PSPB bt Bihar 3-0 (G. Sathiyan bt Yogesh Mathuri 11-7, 11-4, 11-4; A. Amalraj bt Piyush Gandhi 11-9, 11-6, 11-4; Manav Thakkar bt Lekh Raj 11-3, 11-3, 11-6); PSPB bt Maharashtra B 3-0 (G. Sathiyan bt Jash Dalvi 11-4, 11-7, 11-9; A. Amalraj bt Raegan Albuquerque 11-3, 8-11, 11-7, 12-10; Sudhanshu Groverbt Tanmay Rane 11-9, 11-9, 11-6); Haryana bt Odisha 3-0 (Jubin Kumar bt Bikash Kumar Singh 11-5, 11-3, 11-2; Sourav Saha bt Asif Haque 2-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-7; Jeet Chandra bt Snehamoy Mallick11-7, 11-9, 11-7, 11-7); Haryana bt Chhattisgarh 3-0 (Jeet Chandra bt Santosh Araswilli 12-10, 11-7, 10-12, 11-9; Jubin Kumar bt Sagar Ghatge 11-6, 11-6, 11-4; Sourav Saha bt Abhishek Raj 6-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-5) Women: PSPB bt Uttarakhand 3-0 (Manika Batra bt Vanshika Yadav 11-7, 11-6, 11-4-11; Madhurika Patkar bt Priyana Saha 11-3, 11-8, 11-5; Archana Kamath bt Jyoti Bharti 11-2, 11-4, 11-3).