Indian Sports Wrap, March 19: Balamurugan and Pande stun top seeds at Senior National Table Tennis Championship
TABLE TENNIS
TN assured of medal after Balamurugan and Pande stun top seeds in 87th Senior National Table Tennis Championship
M.R. Balamurugan and Siddhesh Pande stunned West Bengal’s top-seeded pair of Ankur Bhattacharjee and Shankhadip Das in the men’s doubles quarterfinals to assure Tamil Nadu of its first medal at the 87th Senior National Table Tennis Championship here on Thursday.
Balamurugan and Pande prevailed 6-11, 11-4, 11-4, 13-11 in an intense 33-minute contest to set up a semifinal clash against Railways’ Jeet Chandra and Anirban Ghosh.
While Balamurugan was solid with his forehand and backhand returns from deep, it was Pande’s deft flicks that repeatedly caught the opposition off guard. His execution even led to Bhattacharjee losing his temper and receiving a yellow card for indiscipline.
In the fourth game, the Bengal pair surged to a 10-6 lead with aggressive play. However, a couple of unforced errors, followed by another sharp flick from Pande, pushed the game into deuce. As the Tamil Nadu pair converted their first match point, Bhattacharjee vented his frustration by throwing his racquet and tearing the rubber.
With several top singles players opting to skip the doubles events to conserve energy in the non-air-conditioned Abhay Prashal Hall, the doubles competition has gained added significance among specialists.
Chandra and Ghosh, meanwhile, defeated Haryana’s left and right-handed combination of Wesley Do Rosario and Nikunj Attri in another engaging quarterfinal. In a match marked by long rallies, the agile Ghosh proved decisive, setting up a semifinal against the Tamil Nadu pair.
In the other semifinal, second seeds Ronit Bhanja and S. Preyesh Raj of Railways will face Petroleum Sports Promotion Board’s combinationof Divyansh Srivastava and veteran Sanil Shetty.
The results
Men’s Doubles: Quarterfinals: M.R. Balamurugan & Siddhesh Pande (TN) bt Ankur Bhattacharjee & Shankhadip Das (WB) 6-11, 11-4, 11-4, 13-11; Jeet Chandra & Anirban Ghosh (RSPB) bt Wesley Do Rosario & Nikunj Attri (Har) 11-6, 4-11, 11-9, 12-10; Sanil Shetty & Divyansh Srivastaava (PSPB) bt Karthikeyhan Solaiyan & Tharun Shanmugam (TN) 11-8, 11-8, 10-12, 11-6; Ronit Bhanja & S. Preyesh Raj (RSPB) bt Sarthak Arya & Tushar Chauhan (Odi) 11-1, 13-11, 11-5.
-Amol Karhadkar
GOLF
Vinay wins maiden title at PGTI NexGen
Vinay Kumar Yadav of Delhi won his maiden title after prevailing in a playoff against teenager Arjunveer Shishir of Chandigarh at the PGTI NexGen in Gurugram on Thursday.
Thirty-year-old Vinay (72-70-71), who was overnight tied fourth and three shots off the lead, carded a one-under 71 in round three to end the regulation 54 holes tied at the top of the leaderboard along with 15-year-old Arjunveer (71-70-72) at a total of three-under 213.
Arjunveer, the youngest player in the field who was overnight tied second and two shots off the lead, made his way to the top of the pack on day three courtesy an even-par 72.
Vinay finally went on to win on the second playoff hole (played on the Par-5 18th).
Lakshya Nagar (72) and Siddharth Semwal (75), the overnight leader, finished tied third at two-under 214.
The NexGen Tour was launched by the DP World PGTI last year with the objective of providing equal playing opportunities to all Professional Golfers of India and to increase the bench strength in Indian golf, which in turn increases competition and the level of golf.
-PTI
Published on Mar 19, 2026