As expected, the two top seeds, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, will lock horns in the Under-19 Girls Team final at the UTT 87th Inter-State Junior and Youth National Table Tennis Championships, to be held at the Multipurpose Hall, Parade Ground, in Dehradun on Friday.
West Bengal sealed their place with a 3-0 win over Delhi, though the scoreline hardly reflected the intensity, with two tightly-contested rubbers going the distance. Earlier, the top seeds were pushed to the brink by fourth-seeded Maharashtra, where Divyanshi Bhowmick emerged as a formidable hurdle, threatening to derail Tamil Nadu’s campaign.
However, Tamil Nadu showed resilience when it mattered most. After conceding the opening rubber to Divyanshi, Ananya Muralidharan rose to the occasion, delivering a composed performance to outclass Hardee Patel in the decider and steer her team into the final. But the lifeline was provided by Shriya Anand, who claimed the third rubber to pave the way.
All but one quarterfinal followed a predictable script, with Tamil Nadu, Delhi, and West Bengal sealing comfortable 3–1 wins to book their semifinal berths. The lone exception—a gripping Maharashtra vs NCOE clash—delivered the drama.
NCOE surged ahead 2–0, courtesy of Archismita Mahato’s hard-fought 12–10, 4–11, 11–7, 10–12, 11–9 win over Hardee Patel and Subhomita Basak’s 3–11, 11–5, 11–9, 12–10 comeback against Divyanshi Bhowmick. But they couldn’t close it out. Swara Karmakar reignited Maharashtra’s hopes with a 9–11, 11–3, 11–5, 11–4 win over Moupia Das, before Divyanshi and Hardee turned the tide in the reverse singles, winning 3–0 and 3–1 respectively to complete a stunning comeback.
All the pre-quarterfinal ties went according to script, with Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, NCOE, Maharashtra, Delhi, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal progressing to the last eight.
West Bengal, however, faced an early scare. Syndrela Das went down in the second rubber to Meher Garg, who showed remarkable resilience to outplay the experienced paddler. Haryana had begun poorly, with Tanmayee Saha losing the opener to Avisha Karmakar 7-11, 11-8, 8-11, 7-11. Meher then turned the tide—recovering after dropping the first game and edging a crucial deuce (15-13)—before sealing the match 6-11, 15-13, 11-2, 11-9 to level the tie. Kashvi Kalra lost 7-11, 7-11, 13-15 in a hard-fought battle to give Bengal the lead as Ditsa Roy won. The Syndrela bounced back in style, defeating Avisha in a five-game thriller 9-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-7 to steer West Bengal into the quarterfinals.
Hosts Uttarakhand, who had entered the knockouts after beating Assam, were outclassed by NCOE. Despite spirited efforts, they struggled under pressure. Kaira Bhandari pushed Archismita Mahato in a straight-game loss 9-11, 9-11, 9-11. Vidushi Dhanai fought hard before going down to Moupia Das 7-11, 12-14, 2-11, and Aaditri Bharadwaj squandered her second-game advantage as Subhomita Basak closed out the tie 11-8, 9-11, 11-7, 11-2.
Results: (Team): Under-19 Youth Girls (semifinals): Tamil Nadu beat Maharashtra 3-2 (Ananya Muralidharan lost to Divyanshi Bhowmick 11-8, 4-11, 11-5, 5-11, 6-11, M. Hansini beat Hardee Patel 11-13, 11-8, 11-9, 7-11, 11-9, Shriya Anand beat Swara Karmarkar 13-11, 6-11, 11-2, 11-13, 11-5, Hansini lost to Divyanshi 5-11, 11-5, 6-11, 7-11, Ananya beat Hardee 11-6, 11-9, 11-7); West Bengal beat Delhi 3-0 (Syndrela Das beat Sayanika Maji 9-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-6, Avisha Karmakar beat Vanshika Mudgal 11-8, 2-11, 11-7, 11-13, 11-5, Ditsa Roy beat Riddhima Kapoor 11-3, 7-11, 14-16, 11-5, 11-6). Quarterfinals: Tamil Nadu beat Gujarat 3-1; Maharashtra beat NCOE 3-2; Delhi beat Karnataka 3-1; West Bengal beat Uttar Pradesh 3-1. Pre-quarterfinals: Tamil Nadu beat Madhya Pradesh 3-0; Gujarat beat Goa 3-0; NCOE beat Uttarakhand 3-0; Maharashtra beat PSPBA 3-1; Delhi beat Rajasthan 3-0; Karnataka beat Telangana 3-0; Uttar Pradesh beat Pondicherry 3-0; West Bengal beat Haryana 3-1.
