Host MP out of Senior National & Inter-State TT Championship

Indore: The host challenge ended on Sunday in the UTT 87th Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championship, as both teams of Madhya Pradesh exited in the pre-quarter final stage at Abhay Prashal in the city. The tournament, conducted under the aegis of the Table Tennis Federation of India, drew leading paddlers from across the country, with several strong teams advancing to the quarter-finals.In the women's team event, Madhya Pradesh suffered a 3-0 defeat against Tamil Nadu despite a determined effort. In the men's pre-quarter-finals, Madhya Pradesh went down 3-1 to West Bengal. Soumyadeep Sarkar kept the host in contention with a gritty five-game win over Bodhisattva Choudhury. However, West Bengal bounced back strongly. Ankur Bhattacharjee defeated Shivam Solanki in straight games, while Shankhadeep Das overcame Anuj Soni. Bhattacharjee then clinched the tie by beating Sarkar in a tense five-game contest.Elsewhere in the men's section, teams from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Punjab, Gujarat, Assam, Odisha, Telangana and Delhi also advanced after convincing wins in their respective ties, setting up a competitive quarter-final stage in the national championship.