National Table Tennis Championships 2025: Defending men’s champion PSPB makes solid start, Suhana helps Haryana beat UP
National Table Tennis Championships 2025: Defending men’s champion PSPB makes solid start, Suhana helps Haryana beat UP
The 86th Senior National Table Tennis Championship started off on an expected note, with the favourites sailing through most of the team championship’s league stage proceedings at the Pandit Dindayal Upadhyay Indoor Stadium here on Sunday.
Men’s defending champion Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) crushed Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh with an identical margin of 3-0 to enter the knockouts. Barring G. Sathiyan, all the other four PSPB paddlers had a feel of the arena, with Achanta Sharath Kamal making way for Ankur Bhattacharjee during the latter tie.
Meanwhile, Telangana overcame Andhra Pradesh 3-0 in the clash of the neighbours clubbed together in Group G to improve its chance of entering the round of 16.
The most entertaining tie of the day saw Suhana Saini help Haryana edge past Uttar Pradesh 3-2 in a women’s Group E tie.
The tournament was formally inaugurated by C.R. Patil, Union Minister for Water Resources. While Sharath, the legendary paddler, was invited as a special guest for the opening ceremony, Mouma Das, the other Padma Shri recipient, was overlooked.
