On Monday, PSPB’s men disposed of Central Revenue Sports
Control Board (CRSCB) 3-0 in the first semifinal while in the second, the Railways
huffed and puffed before beating AAI 3-2. PSPB women, taking the cue from their
men counterparts, didn’t waste any time to mow down Air India for a
similar verdict. The other semifinal saw hosts Airports Authority of India
landing smoothly in the final with a 3-0 win over Railway Sports Promotion
Board. Both the finals are slated for tomorrow afternoon.
In fact, the PSPB men and women didn’t have any opposition
at all. Their bench strength in the two sections are so strong that they could
ever experiment with it. For instance, G. Sathiyan was given a chance in the
semifinals over a higher-ranked Harmeet Desai while the latter was played in
the quarterfinals. So was the case on the distaff side that Poulomi played the
quarterfinals while Pooja Sahasrabudhe got her chance in the semifinals.
Their strategy for the finals, particularly in the women’s
category, may see a steady line-up with AAI beckoning at them. As for their
men, they have the luxury to choose from the
Shetty-Ghosh-Desai-Amalraj-Sathiyan blend, though Amalraj, who is down with
fever, is a doubtful case. Whatever combination they might try out tomorrow,
PSPB will see to it they retain both the titles.
But the hosts would wish to win at least the women’s crown,
having lost their chance to retain the Youth Boys and Youth Girls titles, as
PSPB became the rightful claimants after finishing top in their respective
sections in the round-robin format. Thus they qualify directly for the Junior
and Youth Nationals to be conducted at Alleppey in December. Air India ’s
Youth Boys and Girls finished second behind them.
If the PSPB men had a smooth passage into the final, the
Railways had the now-start-now-stop journey with AAI taking the match the full
distance. Everything was depended on Anirban Nandi who did not disappoint his
employers. Nandi began well to close it on Nitin Thiruvengdam and win 3-1.
Prabhakaran Ekambaram did justice to his inclusion in the team by posting a 3-1
victory over an experienced Sushmit Sriram.
That must have given enough confidence in the RSPB ranks,
but both their third player Noel Pinto and Prabhakaran, playing his reverse
singles, lost the advantage. This put a lot of burden on Nandi but the veteran
kept his nerves intact to dismiss the challenge from Sriram, who surprisingly,
lost both his singles.
Earlier, strengthened by the return of Nikhat Bhanu, who
lost her grandmother on the eve of the championships, AAI posted a cozy triumph
over RSPB in the semifinals. With Nikhat, Krittiwikka Sinha Roy and Amrutha
Pushpak playing strong, the hosts should be fancying their chance against a
strong PSPB in the final tomorrow.
Results: Men (semifinals): PSPB bt CRSCB 3-0 (Soumyajit
Ghosh bt Devesh Karia 10-12, 11-7, 11-2, 11-8, G. Sathiyan bt Sayan Paul Roy
11-2, 11-8, 11-9, Sanil Shetty bt Eric Nestor 11-9, 11-4, 11-6), RSPB bt AAI
3-2 (Anirban Nandi bt Nitin Thiruvengadam 15-13, 5-11, 11-5, 11-6, Prabhakaran
E. bt Sushmit Sriram 11-7, 5-11, 11-7, 11-3, Noel Pinto lost to Sabhay Virmani
6-11, 11-1, 11-8, 5-11, 8-11, Prabhakaran E. lost to Nitin Thiruvengadam 13-11,
7-11, 11-8, 5-11, 8-11, Anirban Nandi bt Sushmit Sriram 11-9, 11-8,
11-5); Quarterfinals: PSPB bt ESIC 3-0 (Sanil Shetty 11-4, 11-4, 4-11,
11-5, Harmeet Desai bt Daramrajsinh Rana 11-9, 11-7, 11-5, G. Sathiyan bt Vikram
Aditya 11-6, 11-5, 11-5), CRSCB bt Air India 3-1 (Devesh Karia bt Chinmay Datar
11-8, 11-7, 11-8, Sayan Paul Roy bt Nishaad Shah 7-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-7, Hardik
Bhatt lost to Sanish Ambekar 11-8, 8-11, 9-11, 6-11, Devesh Karia bt Nishaad
Shah 6-11, 11-8, 11-9, 9-11, 11-3), AAI bt FCI 3-1 (Nitin Thiruvengadam bt
Sameera Kumar 11-9, 4-11, 11-5, 11-9, Sabhay Virmani bt Sivananda Seshadri
11-2, 11-9, 9-11, 11-6, Nitin Thiruvengadam bt Sarthak Gandhi 11-5, 5-11, 8-11,
11-9, 11-8), RSPB bt LIC 3-1 (Souvik Kar bt Sougata Sarkar 7-11,
6-11 9-11, Prabhakaran.E bt Sathiswaran.L 10-12, 11-3, 11-2, 11-8,
Anirban Nandi bt Ravi Joshi 8-11, 11-6, 12-10 5-11, 11-6, Prabharakan E bt
Sougata Sarkar 11-9, 11-8, 5-11, 11-7).
Women (semifinals): PSPB bt Air India 3-0 (Madhurika Patkar
bt Devika Bhide 11-8, 11-7, 9-11, 11-6, Ankita Das bt Mallika Bhandarkar 11-4,
11-6, 11-4, Pooja Sahasrabudhe bt Vedika Garg 11-4, 11-7, 11-6, AAI bt RSPB 3-0
(Nikhat Bhanu bt Anindita Chakraborty 11-7, 15-17, 11-8, 11-9, Kritwikka Sinha
Roy bt Takeme Sarkar 11-7, 11-5, 11-5, Amrutha Pushpak bt Rupsa Bhattcharya
11-8, 11-7, 11-5); Quarterfinals: PSPB bt Dena Bank 3-0 (Madhurika Patkar
bt Frenaz Chipia 14-12, 11-7, 11-8, Ankita Das bt Krithicka. S 11-9, 9-11,
11-4, 11-4, Poulomi Ghatak bt Monica Manohar 11-9, 11-4, 11-6), Air India bt
Indian Audit 3-1 (Vedika Garg lost to Sayantika Kundu 10-12, 8-11, 8-11,
Mallika Bhandarkar bt Manisha Sharma 11-5, 11-3, 11-6, Devika Bhide bt Nikita
Rautela 11-9, 6-11, 11-9, 11-6, Mallika Bhandarkar bt Sayantika Kundu 11-8,
11-6, 11-6), RSPB bt LIC 3-2 ( Takeme Sarkar bt Mrunmayee Mhatre 11-8, 11-8,
10-12, 11-8, Sukanya Bose lost to Prajakta Tipale 9-11 6-11, 12-10,
9-11, Pallabi Kundu bt Shruti Talnikar 11-6, 11-9, 11-9, Takeme Sarkar lost to
Prajakta Tipale 6-11, 8-11, 11-5, 10-12, Sukanya Bose bt Mrunmayee Mhatre 11-9,
11-8, 11-6), AAI bt CRSCB 3-0 (Kritwikka Sinha Roy bt Praneetha Challa 5-11,
11-7, 11-7, 11-2, Nikhat Bhanu bt Jaita Pushilal 11-7, 11-7, 12-10, Amrutha
Pushpak bt Silpa Basak 11-3, 9-11, 11-4, 11-2).
TTFI Press release
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