AG Haryana, UP enter NZ Audit TT final

Chandigarh, Jul 24 (UNI) Hosts Accountant General Haryana will challenge Accountant General Uttar Pradesh on July 26 for the team title in the North Zone Audit Table Tennis Tournament being organised by AG (Audit) Haryan here.

Haryana just managed to prevail over a never-say-die Delhi Audit by 3-2 in the second semi-final played today. It was Harish Kumar who snatche the final spot for AG Haryana as he overcame a stiff challenge from Shyam Kumar 11-9, 11-2, 7-11, 11-7 in the fifth and deciding final singles match after sharing two games each. He atoned himself for his earlier lapse as he suffered defeat at the hands of Joginder Bisht in the first singles. The Delhi player won by 13-11, 11-7, 6-11, 11-6.

Besides, Harish, Amod Kumar and Patanjali Kumar also won their matches which paved the way for Haryana to advance to the final.

Accountant General Uttar Pradesh rallied to beat AG Punjab by 3-1 in the first team championship semi-finals. AG Punjab started their campaign through Vikash Sharma who scored a hard-fought 14-12, 11-6, 14-12 verdict against SP Singh of AG Uttar Pradesh in the opening singles to give his team 1-0 lead. However, the AG Punjab lost the next three matches as Uttar Pradesh emerged 3-1 winners and moved into the final.

Amit Srivastava restored parity by beating Lav Kumar with a comfortable score of 11-2, 11-4, 11-5. SK Tiwari then put Uttar Pradesh ahead by overcoming Sonic Monga by 13-11, 11-7, 11-8. In the last and deciding singles, Amit Srivastava rounded of the winners' tally with a 4-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-8 triumph over Vikash Sharma.

Earlier, defending championship AG Himachal Pradesh made their inglorious exit as they were toppled by AG (Audit) Delhi by 3-1.

Lav Kumar (AG Punjab), Amod Dikshit (AG Haryana), Satish Tiwari (AG UP), Somnath Pramanik (AG HP), Patanjali Kumar (AG Haryana) and Vinod Kaushik (AG Haryana) advanced to the next round in the men's singles. Displaying his ''old spark' Patanjali Kumar of AG Haryana downed Asuthosh Pandey of AG Himachal by 11-9, 11-9, 11-9.

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