Indore, March 16 Petroleum Sports Promotion Board women defeated Uttar Pradesh 3-0, while Reserve Bank of India Sports Board overcame a spirited challenge from Karnataka to set up a summit clash between the two powerhouses at the 87th UTT Senior National Table Tennis Championships here on Monday.
PSPB's Syndrela Das set the tone with a commanding straight-game win over Avani Tripathi of Uttar Pradesh, before Taneesha Kotecha edged past Aarti Chaudhary 3-2 in a gripping duel, after which Sayali Wani sealed the tie with a 3-1 victory over Disha.
RBI defeated Karnataka 3-1, with Diya Chitale and Ayhika Mukherjee registering comfortable straight-game victories over Kushi Viswanath and Tanishka Kalbhairav respectively.
Trupti Purohit kept Karnataka in the hunt by beating Nikhat Banu in five games, but Chitale returned to clinch the tie with a four-game win over Tanishka.
Earlier, history was made as Uttar Pradesh entered the women's semifinal for the first time with a 3-1 win over Maharashtra.
Avani Tripathi led the charge, first edging Pritha Vartikar in a five-game duel and later sealing the tie with a four-game victory over Senhora D’Souza. While Aarti Chaudhary fell to Senhora, Disha's gritty five-game win against Ananya Chande kept UP firmly on track.
The PSPB women defeated Delhi 3-1 to enter the last-4 stage. Sayanika Maji provided Delhi with an early lead but Yashaswini Ghorpade restored parity and later beat Maji in straight games to clinch the tie, with Syndrela Das adding another crucial win.
RBI cruised past Gujarat 3-0 as Ayhika Mukherjee and Diya Chitale won comfortably, while Sreeja Akula rallied after dropping the first game.
Karnataka beat Tamil Nadu 3-1 with Tanishka Kalbhairav winning twice.
In the men's section, RSPB, Telangana, West Bengal, and PSPB moved into the semifinals, with RSPB blanking Delhi 3-0 thanks to strong performances from Ankur Bhattacharjee and K.J. Aakash.
