Air India booked their berth against defending champions Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) in both men's and women's doubles categories at the Senior National Badminton Championships here Wednesday.
The Air India men had to play out of their skin to beat underdogs Haryana 3-2 in the semifinal while the women got the better of West Bengal 2-0 at the Siri Fort Sports Complex.
In the other semifinal, PSPB men suffered a slight wobble when they dropped a point in men's doubles before getting the better of Airport Authority of India (AAI) 3-1 while the women sailed through 2-0 against Kerala.
Though the PSPB men were not at their best but efforts from Sourabh Verma and K. Srikanth ensured that they secure their place in the final.
Semifinal results:
Rahimtoola Cup for men: PSPB bt Airport Authority of India 3-1 (Sourabh Verma bt C. Rohit Yadav 23-21, 17-21, 21-13; K. Srikanth bt Kaushal Dharmamer 21-15, 17-21, 21-7; Tarun Kona/Arun Vishnu lost to Manu Atri/K. Nandagopal 23-21, 16-21, 21-18; R.M.V. Gurusaidutt bt K. Nandagopal 18-14 retd.)
Air India bt Haryana 3-2 (Anand Pawar bt Neeraj Vashisth 21-9, 16-21, 21-19; Aditya Joshi lost to Akshit Mahajan 10-21, 10-21; Akshay Dewalkar/Sanyam Shukla bt Mahajan/Neeraj Vashisth 22-20, 21-14; Harsheel Dani lost to Ketan Chahal 21-23, 21-12, 21-13; G. Gopi Raju/Jishnu Sanyal bt Ketan Chahal/Sourav Kapoor 14-21, 21-9, 21-16).
Chadha Cup for women: PSPB bt Kerala 2-0 (P.V. Sindhu bt J. Malvika 21-10, 21-12; Ashwini Ponnappa/Jwala Gutta bt K.P. Shruthi/Farah Mather 21-18)
Air India bt West Bengal 2-0 (Sayali Gokhale bt Sheshadri Sanyal 21-13, 18-21, 21-8; Saili Rane/Sanyogita Ghorpade bt Sanyal/Amrita Mukherjee 22-20, 21-15).
