CHANDIGARH, JULY 26 : Amit Srivastav of Accountant General Uttar Pradesh and Gurvinder Kaur of Accountant General Punjab won the men’s and women’s singles titles, respepctively, in the North Zone IA and AD Table Tennis Tournament organized by AG Haryana at the Sector 23 Table Tennis Hall here today.
Playing an aggressive game, bespectacled Amit Srivastav of AG Uttar Pradesh defeated Joginder Bisht of Delhi Audit by 11-8, 11-9, 15-13, 8-11, 6-11, 11-9 in the men’s singles final. Hitting fluently on both sides of the table, Amit raced to a 4-0 lead. However, he temporarily lost his concentration and allowed Joginder Bisht to win next two games to reduce the margin to 2-4 in the best of seven games. Amit regained his form and won the seventh game at 11-9. The third game was a close affair and the score ran 6-all, 9-all, 11-all before Amit won two points as Joginder netted returns.
Gurvinder Kaur of AG Punjab prevailed over a stubborn Leena Khare of AG Uttar Pradesh in the women’s singles final. In a closely fought first game, Gurvinder won by 11-9 but Leena hit back and restored parity with a 14-12 verdict in the second game.
Gurvinder again forged ahead by winning the third game at 11-6 but lost the fourth to Leena by 3-11 and the players were tied at two-all. Gurvinder then took the next two games at 11-9, 11-5 to clinch the crown.
Fifty-nine years old Patanjali Kumar of AG Haryana was given a standing ovation as he received the veteran singles runner-up prize from Accountant General (A and E) Haryana Mohinder Singh. The victorious AG Uttar Pradesh team also honoured Patanjali for his outstanding contribution for promoting table tennis. Patanjali is associated with the Audit TT for the last 39 years.
It was Amit Srivastav who starred in AG UP’s triumph over AG Haryana by 3-1 in the team championship final. Amit won both his matches. He first defeated Harish Kumar 11-8, 11-5, 13-11 and later accounted for Amod Dixit by 11-8, 11-5, 11-7. SP Singh had made it 2-0 with a win over Amod Dixt 11-3, 12-10, 11-5.
The consolation win for AG Haryana was scored by Patanjali Kumar who defeated Satish Kumar Tiwari by 11-8, 12-10, 11-8.
AG UP and AG Haryana have qualified for the All-India Inter-Zonal Table Tennis Tournament starting on July 28 at the Sector 23 Table Tennis Hall.
Results: Team championship (final): AG Uttar Pradesh bt AG Haryana 3-1 (Amit Srivastav bt Harish Kumar 11-8, 11-5, 13-11, SP Singh bt Amod Dixit 11-3, 12-10, 11-5, Satish Kumar Tiwari lost to Patanjali Kumar 8-11, 10-12, 8-11, Amit Srivastav bt Amod Dixit 11-8, 11-5, 11-7..
Men’s singles (final): Amit Srivastava (AG UP) bt Joginder Bisht (Delhi Audit) 11-8, 11-9, 15-13, 8-11, 6-11, 11-9.
Women’s singles (final):: Gurvinder Kaur (AG Punjab) bt Leena Khare (AG UP) 11-9, 12-14, 11-6, 3-11, 11-9, 11-8.
Men’s veterans singles (final): Somnath Parmanik (AG HP) bt Patanjali Kumar (AG Haryana) 13-11, 11-7, 11-7.