PSPB men and women retain team crowns

Dharwad, August 24, 2013: The Petroleum teams supremacy came to the fore yet again when  Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) men and women retained the team titles in the LIC-sponsored Institutional Table Tennis Championships at the District Indoor Hall here today, making it almost a one-sided affair in both the finals. PSPB men defeated Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) 3-1 while PSPB women beat Airports Authority of India (AAI) 3-0.

Aman Balgu upset Amalraj 3-2 to give a grand beginning for Railways. But the pace that Balgu set was somewhat dented by both Soumyajit Ghosh and Harmeet Desai who rolled over their rivals. Ghosh, the crucial link the in the PSPB line-up, then disposed of Balgu in the fourth singles, much to the relief of the PSPB bench.

Amalraj showed patchy brilliance on the day and credit must go to Balgu for the way he staged a nice comeback from 1-2 down to breathe easy at 2-2.  But his opponent was certainly not comfortable and Balgu from 2-2 suwent up 5-2, then 7-4 before allowing Amalraj just a couple of points to win 11-6. Then Ghosh came and demolished Souvik Kar with a straight games win, Harmeet Desai, despite a stutter, provided his team a 2-1 lead and left completion job in the expert hands of Ghosh.

Ghosh, who defeated Balgu 3-1, was under great pressure, particularly in the third game which he won 12-10. The see-saw battle saw some excellent rallies and away-from-the-table game with no quarters given. But some crucial errors on the part of Balgu at 10-10 proved his undoing. Ghosh, despite leading in the fourth, allowed Balgu come close before raising his game a notch higher to clinch it with the minimum margin of 11-9.

“Balgu played a great game, but I woudn’t have played any different. The third game was too close for my comfort. I managed to pull it off. Even in the fourth, I was leading. But a silly mistake trying to put the ball back on the table and he made it 9-9,” said Soumyajit Ghosh after leading the team to victory.

K. Shamini beat A.V. Nivedita 3-1 to put PSPB 1-0 up. Nivedita, playing well, failed to control her game despite giving some anxious moments to her opponent. In fact, the AAI girl should have taken the third game as well after drawing level in the second, but Shamini staged a fine comeback in the third, after trailing 4-8, to win 11-8. From there, it was Shamini all the way as she wrapped the next at 11-8 with a blistering forehand winner.

Ankita, playing the second singles, , began with a bang against Kritwika Sinha Roy taking the first game 11-2, but lost her second 7-11 to the AAI player who seemed like giving a spirited fight. But the London Olympian displayed excellent shot selections and playing close to the table, stroked well. Kritwika, who lost 1-3, was somewhat off colour and failed to raise her game today.

Nikhat Bhanu, however, raised some hope for the AAI as she opened with a win against Madhurika Patkar. But the Mumbai girl, though took her time, ran up a 4-0 lead in the second, reminding her opponent of her capabilities. From 0-4, Nikhat made it 4-4 and then 7-5. However, Madhurika cashed in on Nikhat’s unforced errors at the net and made it 7-7 and then lead 10-9 for the second time. With serve returning her way, the Mumbai girl finished the job competently to level 1-1.

After that she never looked back though Nikhat kept threatening her survival in the third. From 7-7 Madhurika took lead at 8-7, taking four consecutive points, to surge ahead in the rubber. That was also the indication for Nikhat to pull up her socks and after levelling the score 8-8, the Hyderabadi just managed a solitary point as Madhurika wound up to help PSPB go over the line.

Meanwhile, the men and women’s singles qualifiers began this morning with 250 paddlers participating in the Rs 3.32 lakh prize money events. Those who finish in the top-eight will receive cash prizes.

Results:

Team finals: Men: PSPB bt RSPB 3-1 (A. Amalraj lost to Aman Balgu 2-3 (11-6, 8-11, 11-6, 7-11, 7-11), Soumyajit Ghosh bt Souvik Kar 3-0 (11-5, 11-8, 11-4), Harmeet Desai bt Noel Pinto 3-1 (8-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-7), Soumyajit Ghosh bt Aman Balgu 3-1 (11-3, 8-11, 12-10, 11-9).

Women: PSPB bt AAI 3-0 (K. Shamini bt AV Nivedita 3-1 (11-9, 10-12, 11-8, 11-8), Ankita Das bt Kritwika Sinha Roy 3-1 (11-2, 7-11, 11-06, 11-9), Madhurika Patkar bt Nikhat Bhanu 3-1 (2-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-9).

A TTFI Press release