Jharkhand, Haryana stun TN, North Bengal

Kolkata, Jan 18 (PTI) The women team of Jharkhand andmen;s team of Haryana created a flutter as they stunnedheavyweights Tamil Nadu and North Bengal respectively in thepre-quarterfinals of the Keventer 72nd Senior National andInter-State Table Tennis Championship.

Otherwise it was smooth sailing for the other fanciedteams.

Riding on a superb effort by Tulika Roy and RupshaBhattacharya, Jharkhand provided the first suprise of the dayat Netaji Indoor Stadium when they ousted higher-ranked TamilNadu who were cheered on by Indian ace Achanta Sharath Kamalin the morning session.

Jharkhand started off on a losing note when Rupsha wasbeaten by T Reeth Rishya 8-11, 11-7, 1-11, 4-11 but theyfought back through Tulika Roy who beat N Sathyabhama 8-11,11-9, 11-8, 5-11, 15-13.

But Tamil Nadu snatched the lead after Jharkhand''s TaniaMandal went down without a fight against N Vidya 4-11, 10-12,5-11.

Down 1-2, Jharkhand rode on Tulika''s 11-7, 4-11, 11-9,11-9 win over T Reeth Rishya to deny Tamil Nadu the match andtake it to the final rubber where Rupsha made amend for herloss to beat N Satyabhama and settle the issue.

In a marathon five game effort, Rupsha held her nerveto down Satyabhama 12-10, 7-11, 3-11, 12-10, 11-9 to takeJharkhand into the last eight stage.

In men''s section later in the day, North Bengal gaveaway a 2-0 lead to go down to a spirited Haryana in the secondupset of the day.

Soumyajit Ghosh and Raj Mondal started off on winningnotes to give the formidable North Bengal a 2-0 lead but theduo lost out when it needed most as Rajiv Ghai and Mohit Vermaturned it in Haryana''s favour.

Having taken a 2-0 lead, North Bengal''s BirupakshaSaha went down 7-11, 4-11, 7-11 to Ashish Duklan as Jharkhandscripted a comeback.

Rajiv Ghai then shocked Soumyajit Ghosh 12-10, 3-11,11-9, 11-9 while in the decider Mohit Verma thrashed RajMondal 11-7, 15-13, 12-10 to take settle the issue.

Meanwhile, PSPB men''s team sailed past Karnataka 3-0while the women''s won against Madhya Pradesh by an identicalmargin storm into the last eight. .

Results (all pre-quarterfinals)

Men''s: PSPB bt Karnataka 3-0; Gujarat bt MadhyaPradesh 3-0; Tamil Nadu bt Uttar Pradesh 3-0; Rajasthan btChhattisgarh 3-1; West Bengal bt Maharashtra-B 3-0; RSPB btAssam 3-0; Haryana bt North Bengal 3-2; Maharashtra-A btAndhra Pradesh 3-0.

Women''s: PSPB bt Madhya Pradesh 3-0; Delhi btMaharashtra-B 3-0; Air India bt Assam 3-1; North Bengal btGujarat 3-0; West Bengal bt Kerala 3-0; Andhra Pradesh btChhattisgarh 3-0; Jharkhand bt Tamil Nadu 3-2; Maharashtra-Abt Karnataka 3-0.

Kolkata, Jan 17 (PTI) Defending champions PetroleumSports Promotion Board (PSPB) justified their top billing byentering the pre-quarterfinals in both the men''s and thewomen''s sections in the 72nd Senior National and Inter-StateTable Tennis Championship here today.

Hosts West Bengal, North Bengal and Maharashtra also madeit to the last-16 by topping their respective groups in thewomen''s section at the Netaji Indoor Stadium.

In their first rubber, PSPB team consisting K Shamini,Madhurika Patkar and Pooja Sahastrabudhe beat their opponentsfrom Chandigarh 3-0 to open their group A campaign with aflier.

Then Shamini teamed up with Mouma Das and DivyaDeshpande in their second and last group league fixture, tothrash Chhattisgarh 3-0 to seal their place in thepre-quarters.

Maharashtra A won comfortably against Rajasthan andMadhya Pradesh with an identical 3-0 scoreline in both therounds en route to the last 16 from group B.

In group C, hosts West Bengal routed Maharashtra B andHimachal Pradesh 3-0 in both the rounds to make the nextstage.

North Bengal qualified from group D beating Jharkhand(3-0) and Haryana (3-0).

In the men''s section, PSPB beat Andhra Pradesh and Orissain their two rounds to ensure a last 16 berth. .