Gujarat men’s table tennis team clinched gold in the final against Delhi without dropping a single set, while West Bengal defeated Maharashtra in the women’s final of the 36th National Games on Wednesday.
These were the first gold medal matches at the national games held in seven years (previously held in 2015). Maharashtra and West Bengal won the men’s bronze medals after semi-final losses, while Tamil Nadu and Telangana secured the women’s bronze medals.
2️⃣nd 🥇of the #36thNationalGames 🤩
Many congratulations to Gujarat men's #TableTennis team (@manavthakkar16 @HarmeetDesai & Manush Shah) on winning GOLD 🥇
Comfortable 3-0 victory over Team Delhi! Well done.#NationalGames2022 pic.twitter.com/d5BMZLU9w2
— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) September 21, 2022
Gujarat is the top seed in the men’s tournament and has been in dominating form since the beginning of the competition. The home team’s dominance was so absolute that they did not drop a single set in the contest and opened Gujarat’s account for the medal race.
-- Advertisement --Going into the final, Manav Thakkar replaced captain Harmeet Desai in the first match of the singles. Thakkar showed dominance against Sudhansha Grover in the opening set. Although the Delhi paddler fought hard for the next two sets, but he could not find a way past it and went down in sets 11-3, 13-11, and 14-12.
Delhi hoped that Payas Jain would repeat his semi-final heroics, but Harmeet Desai proved too powerful for him. The Delhi lad managed to save four match points but later the Gujarat skipper secured the first two extra points to give his side a 2-0 lead.
In the women’s final, Mouma Das and Sutirtha Mukherjee helped West Bengal get the better of Maharashtra’s young guns by 3-1.
1️⃣st 🏅of the #36thNationalGames 🤩
Many congratulations to @MoumaDasTT , @sutirthamukher4 and rest of the West Bengal #TableTennis women's team on winning GOLD 🥇
Comfortable victory over Team Maharashtra! Well done.#NationalGames2022 pic.twitter.com/uSQBTufzzu
— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) September 21, 2022
Maharashtra made a tiny change to their line-up from their previous outings, allowed Diya Chitale to play the third singles, and made Swastika Ghosh take the top spot. However, these youngsters could not deal with Ayhika Mukherjee’s playing style and eventually lost the match. Sutirtha Mukherjee lost to Reethrishya Tennison by 9-11, 11-13, and 9-11.
The Results:
Men: Gujarat beat Delhi 3-0 (Manav Thakkar beat Sudhanshu Grover 11-3, 13-11, 14-12; Harmeet Desai beat Payas Jain 11-7, 11-3, 12-10; Manush Shah beat Yashansh Malik 11-4, 11-9, 11-4).
Women: West Bengal beat Maharashtra 3-1 (Ayhika Mukherjee beat Swastika Ghosh 11-3, 11-5, 11-3; Sutirtha Mukherjee lost to Reethrishya Tennison 9-11, 11-13, 9-11; Mouma Das beat Diya Chitale 6-11, 16-14, 10-12, 14-12, 11-6; Sutirtha Mukherjee beat Swastika Ghosh 11-4, 11-13, 11-8, 10-12, 11-6).
36 National Games- Today’s Table Tennis Schedule
Have a look at the #TableTennis schedule of Day 3️⃣, 22nd Sept 👀
You can watch the live telecast 📽️ on @ddsportschannel Let's wish our champs in the comments below👇🏻#NationalGames2022 #36thNationalGames pic.twitter.com/wsN7YPVceP
— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) September 21, 2022
