National table tennis championship | Pande & Balamurugan book a doubles medal for Tamil Nadu

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 Ankur 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 its first match point, Ankur 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.

Jeet and Anirban, 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 Anirban proved decisive, setting up a semifinal against the Tamil Nadu duo.

In the other semifinal, second seeds Ronit Bhanja and S. Preyesh Raj of Railways will face Petroleum Sports Promotion Board’s combination of 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.