Published: March 15, 2026 at 7:45 pm
The favourites kept their date with destiny in the women’s team event of the 87th UTT Senior National Table Tennis Championships as the leading contenders cruised into the quarterfinals with commanding performances in the pre-quarterfinal round at the Abhay Prashal Stadium in Indore on Sunday.
While most ties ended in identical 3-0 margins, several individual rubbers produced tense moments, and the seventh-seeded West Bengal side, fielding a young lineup, bowed out after putting up a spirited fight against Gujarat.
Favourites PSBP, RBI post victories
Top contenders Petroleum Sports Promotion Board, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, and RBI all advanced to the last eight, underlining the depth and consistency of the country’s leading teams.
PSPB authoritatively began their campaign against Haryana. Yahaswini Ghorpade set the tone with a comfortable straight-games win over Suhana Saini before Taneesha Kotecha consolidated the advantage with a solid victory against Prithoki Chakraborti. The closest moment of the tie came in the third rubber, where Syndrela Das was pushed hard by Sneha Bhowmick, eventually sealing the match 13-11, 12-10 in the final two games after dropping the second.
Delhi also posted a 3-0 victory over Assam, though the opening two matches demanded resilience. Lakshita Narang was briefly tested by Bhavna Kashyap, who snatched the third game before Narang steadied herself to close the contest. Sayanika Maji then edged a tight third game against Trisha Gogoi on way to a four-game win, before Garima Goyal wrapped up the tie in straight games against Bhumika Kaushik.
Uttar Pradesh down Andhra Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh enjoyed one of the smoother passages into the quarterfinals with Avani Tripathi, Aarti Chaudhary, and Disha all recording straight-games victories over their Andhra Pradesh opponents. Avani Tripathi defeated Monica Manohar 11-3, 11-9, 11-8, Aarti Chaudhary thrashed Kajol Ramjali 11-3, 11-3, 11-9 and Disha brooked no challenge against Mouparna Das 11-6, 11-7, 11-7.
Maharashtra’s encounter with Chandigarh was largely comfortable but not without drama. After Pritha Vartikar provided the early lead, Senhora D’Souza had to dig deep against left-handed Vani Sharma. Having dropped the opening game, D’Souza survived a tense fourth game that stretched to 15-13 to clinch the match and secure the tie for Maharashtra. Ananya Chande then completed the formalities in straight games.
Tamil Nadu proved too strong for Madhya Pradesh as Selena Deepthi, Yashini Sivashankar, and Nithyashree Mani each registered convincing straight-games wins, with Yashini producing one of the most dominant displays of the round.
Telangana lose to Karnataka
Karnataka’s 3-0 win over Telangana featured some of the most competitive exchanges of the day. Kushi Viswanath held her nerve to edge the opening game 15-13 before going on to win in four games, and Sahana Murthy showed grit in the third rubber, bouncing back after trailing to prevail in five games eventually.
Tanishka Kalbhairav defeated Pranitha Garlapati 12-10, 11-7, 11-2, Kushi Viswanath got the better of Varuni Jaiswal 15-13, 9-11, 11-5, 11-9 and Sahana Murthy edged past Sree Devi Dongari 3-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-5, 11-5.
Despite the 3-0 scoreline, Gujarat paddlers were made to work hard by a determined West Bengal side. Subhankrita Datta had Radhapriya Goel on the ropes after taking a 2-1 lead before the Gujarat paddler staged a comeback to win in five games. The final match was equally dramatic, with Frenaz Chipia recovering from two games down against Sampriti Roy to clinch the decider 11-9 and complete the sweep.
RBI rounded off the pre-quarterfinal action with a 3-0 win over Odisha. Neha Kumari briefly threatened an upset by taking the opening game against Sreeja Akula, but the seasoned international quickly regained control to turn the match around. Ayhika Mukherjee and Diya Chitale then sealed the tie with commanding straight-game wins.
With the women’s quarterfinal lineup now finalised, the spotlight will shift to the men’s team competition, where the pre-quarterfinal clashes are scheduled next in what promises to be another gripping stage of the championships.
Results: Team Event: Women’s pre-quarters: PSPB beat Haryana 3-0 (Yahaswini Ghorpade beat Suhana Saini 11-5, 11-8, 11-4, Taneesha Kotecha beat Prithoki Chakraborti 11-6, 11-8, 11-6, Syndrela Das beat Sneha Bhowmick 11-8, 8-11, 13-11, 12-10); Delhi beat Assam 3-0 (Lakshita Narang beat Bhaavna Kashyap 11-6, 11-6, 10-12, 11-8, Sayanika Maji beat Trisha Gogoi 11-8, 8-11, 11-9, 11-5, Garima Goyal beat Bhumika Kaushik 11-9, 11-4, 11-7); Uttar Pradesh beat Andhra Pradesh 3-0 (Avani Tripathi beat Monica Manohar 11-3, 11-9, 11-8, Aarti Chaudhary beat Kajol Ramjali 11-3, 11-3, 11-9, Disha beat Mouparna Das 11-6, 11-7, 11-7); Maharashtra beat Chandigarh 3-0 (Pritha Vartikar beat Pelf 11-6, 11-4, 11-4, Senhora D’Souza beat Vani Sharma 6-11, 12-10, 11-6, 15-13, Ananya Chande beat Teetiksha Goel 11-7, 11-8, 11-8); Tamil Nadu beat Madhya Pradesh 3-0 (Selena Deepthi beat Parmi Nagdeve 11-8, 11-8, 11-5, Yashini Sivashankar beat Moumita Pal 11-2, 11-5, 11-5, Nithyashree Mani beat Bhavya Rao 11-4, 11-6, 11-5); Karnataka beat Telangana 3-0 (Tanishka Kalbhairav beat Pranitha Garlapati 12-10, 11-7, 11-2, Kushi Viswanath beat Varuni Jaiswal 15-13, 9-11, 11-5, 11-9, Sahana Murthy beat Sree Devi Dongari 3-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-5, 11-5); Gujarat beat West Bengal 3-0 (Radhapriya Goel beat Subhankrita Datta 11-6, 9-11, 4-11, 11-8, 11-7, Oishiki Joardar beat Ditsa Roy 11-7, 12-10, 11-7, Frenaz Chipia beat Sampriti Roy 9-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-9); RBI beat Odisha 3-0 (Sreeja Akula beat Neha Kumari 8-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-7, Ayhika Mukherjee beat Urja Verma 11-5, 11-3, 11-7, Diya Chitale beat Barsha Panda 11-5, 11-2, 11-2).
