Manesar (Haryana), February 2: The women team of top-seeded Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) paid the price for leaving out Pooja Sahasrabuddhe as she, turning out for Maharashtra A, put her team in the final of the 78th 11Even Sports Senior Nationals at the Manesar Sports Club here today.

They will take on a strong-looking West Bengal, who had finished runners-up in the last edition at Hyderabad, in the final to be played later this evening.

In men’s final, however, PSPB ensured their berth and will clash with hosts Haryana who, too, had ended their campaign last year with the silver medal. PSPB and Haryana thrashed Gujarat and West Bengal by an identical 3-0 margins in their semifinals.     

In women’s semifinals, it had all boiled down to that third singles which Maharashtra won. When left-handed Shruti Amrute, a junior player, beat an in-form Mousumi Paul it was all over bar the shouting for PSPB. But then Pooja Sahasrabuddhe, who had given Maharashtra a flying start when she defeated Madhurika Patkar, had to win against the tricky veteran Mouma Das to seal their final berth because if Mouma had won the fourth rubber, PSPB could have fancied their chances with Madhurika to follow against Charvi Kawle.

However, Pooja who failed to find a place in the PSPB squad and turning out for Maharashtra, had a bad start and yet managed to go 2-0 up with Mouma struggling. But Mouma being Mouma, with her never-say-die attitude, troubled Pooja with her trademark backhand blocks and flicks. Equally forceful was her forehand scorchers and she made it 2-2 to give PSPB semblance of a chance.

But Pooja rose to the occasion, flabbergasted Mouma with a few accurate winners and upped the ante to go 8-2 up when Mouma flounderd with her pushes. With just three points away from putting Maharashtra in the final, Pooja’s lost her confidence when Mouma mounted the pressure with six straight points to one by Pooja. At 10-9 Pooja’s forehand did the trick as Mouma’s return was wide and way off the mark much to the relief of Pooja and Maharashtra.

For West Bengal, it was rather easy against the Airports Authority of India women. And the 3-0 score line also suggests the domination of the Bengal paddlers, led by Krittwika Sinha Roy, Suthirtha Mukherjee and Anindita Chakraborty. In other words, it will not easy for Maharashtra, their opponents in final.

Krittwika accounted for Archana in straight games and Suthirtha, though extended a bit in the second game, put it across Ayhika Mukherjee 3-0 before leaving it Anindita to give the finishing touches against Frenaz Chipia. What was remarkable about Anindita, the oldest player very much active, is her ball control and deceptive placings.

She lost her opening game rather tamely to Frenaz but played two back-to-back extended games, especially the third one which went into five deuces as she won 16-14. The young Frenaz could not match her older rival who, despite staying close to the table, covered a lot of ground to outwit the AAI girl. Indeed, it was a close match but Anindita was more determined than her opponent.

In comparison, the men semifinals never touched any height that one normally associates them with at this level. Both were boring and one-sided as the results indicate.

At least the match between Haryana and West Bengal saw some resistance while PSPB just steamrolled their Gujarat opponents, all in straight games. Last night hero for Haryana Jubin Kumar trotted his way into giving a good start beating Arjun Ghosh 12-14, 11-6, 11-3, 12-10 while Soumyajit Ghosh blanked out Anirban Nandi in single digits. Sourav Saha lost his first game but there was never a moment of doubt about his capabilities against Sougata Sarkar who lost 1-3.

Results:

Men Semifinals: PSPB bt Gujarat 3-0 (Anthony Amalraj bt Ishaan Hingorani 11-6, 11-6, 11-6, G. Sathiyan bt Harsh Sachanandani 11-8, 11-8, 11-8, Sanil Shetty bt Kaushal Bhatt 11-3, 11-5, 12-10), Haryana bt West Bengal 3-0 (Jubin Kumar bt Arjun Ghosh 12-14, 11-6, 11-3, 12-10, Soumyajit Ghosh bt Anirban Nandi 11-8, 11-9, 11-5, SouravSaha bt Sougata Srkar 5-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-7).

Women Semifinals: Maharashtra A bt PSPB 3-1 (Pooja Sahasrabuddhe bt Madhurika Patkar 11-9, 12-10, 11-6, Charvi Kawle lost to Mouma Das 6-11.Maharashtra A bt PSPB 3-1 (Pooja Sahasrabuddhe bt Madhurika Patkar 11-9, 12-10, 11-6, Charvi Kawle lost to Mouma Das 6-11, 3-11, 8-11, Shruti Amrute bt Mousumi Paul 11-7, 11-5, 11-5, Pooja Sahasrabuddhe bt Mouma Das 9-11, 11-5, 11-8, 10-12, 11-9), West Bengal bt AAI 3-0 (Krittwika Sinha Roy bt Archana Kamath 11-9, 11-8, 11-9, Suthirtha Mukherjee bt Ayhima Mukherjee 11-4, 12-10, 11-5, Anindita Chakraborty bt Frenaz Chipia 5-11, 12-10, 16-14, 111-9).