National table tennis championships: Petroleum men, RBI women start favourites

For more than two decades, Petroleum has made it an annual ritual to retain the men’s team title in the National table tennis championship. This is bound to continue as long as the oil sector employs the creamy layer of the nation’s talent.

No wonder, the side could afford the absence of 10-time singles champion Sharath Kamal in retaining the title at Jammu earlier this year. On Tuesday, Petrolum’s campaign for another title is set to culminate in success when G. Sathiyan spearheads a team comprising Harmeet Desai, Manav Thakkar, Sanil Shetty and A. Amalraj.

In effect, the battle for the runner-up spot will be more interesting, with the Airports Authority of India, Delhi and Bengal appearing the best among the rest in the field of 34 teams. Railways, runner-up at Jammu, failed to qualify for this edition.

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Sharath will be seen in action in the singles, but Manika Batra will stay away.

In the 33-team women’s section, the absence of former champion and last edition’s semifinalist Petroleum women stands out. Manika’s poor form in the team events continued when she lost the key matches in this year’s Inter-Institutional championship. As a result, Petroleum could not qualify.

In Petroleum’s absence, defending champion Sreeja Akula-led Reserve Bank of India appears the best bet to retain the title. The team comprising Sreeja, Diya Chitale, Ayhika Mukherjee, Harsha Vardhini and Amrutha Pushpak wears the look of invincibility.

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Railways, back in the business, will rely on Sutirtha Mukherjee, Moumita Dutta, Poymantee Baisya, Shruti Amrute, and Sagarika Mukherjee.

Last edition’s runner-up, Tamil Nadu has the resources in Yashini Sivashankar, Kavyasree Baskar and Selena Deepti Selvakumar to go deep into the competition.