The Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB), both in the men and women's sections, were just a step away from retaining their hold on the team trophies in the 44th Inter-Institutional Table Tennis Championships being played here at the Tyagraj Stadium.
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 semi-final saw hosts Airports Authority of India (AAI) 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 semi-finals.
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 Tuesday's final.
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).
