New Delhi, August 2: Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) men and women entered the finals of LPS Bossard 47th All India Inter-Institutional Championships at the Table Tennis Foundation hall here today.

PSPB will take on Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) in the men final while Petroleum women will clash with Reserve Bank of India in women final. Both finals are slated for tomorrow afternoon.

If PSPB men just walked into the final, it was one hell of a struggle for the Railways against Central Revenue Sports Board. PSPB defeated RBI 3-0 but RSPB-CRSB fight went on till the deciding rubber with the former emerging 3-2 winners.

For CRSB, Devesh Karia waged a lone battle winning both his singles against Ravindra Kotiyan and Anirban Nandi but E. Prabhakaran proved to be the clincher for RSPB when he beat Hardik Bhatt in the crucial third rubber. Both Anirban and Ravindra managed to post one win each—the first and the last to scrape through.

Except for Sathiyan, both Amalraj and Soumyajit Ghosh were troubled by their rivals Raj Mondal and Asif Haque, especially Ghosh in the third rubber which went down to the wire. Ghosh, after being stretched, was lucky to win 12-10. Earlier, Amalraj dropped a game to Raj before steadying himself to give PSPB the lead.

It became more than obvious when RBI poached all AAI recruits—Ayhika Mukherjee, Akula Sreeja and Amrutha Pushpak Sekhar—and the same players sent their former employers packing. The experience of Ayhika and Amrutha Pushpak was too hot for the new recruits like Selenadeepthi and Moumita Datta or, for that matter, Chipia Frenaz, to handle. Akula Sreeja was the lone loser of her singles but Ayhika made up by winning both her singles. She first beat Selena 3-0 and then accounted for Moumita 3-2 in an interesting battle. Credit must go to Moumita for stretching Ayhika who won after being 1-2 down.

In the second semifinal, Madhurika Patkar played the lead role to perfection, winning both her singles against veteran Anindita Chakraborty 3-0 and Takeme Sarkar 3-1. Pooja Sahasrabuddhe won the third singles against Sagarika Mukherjee but  Manika Batra lost to Takeme 1-3, the only blemish by PSPB paddlers.

In the men team quarterfinals, it was easy for both PSPB and RBI who thrashed their opponents LIC and Air India 3-0, respectively. But the Railway men had their task cut out against a tough Canara Bank. Despite Ravindra Kotiyan providing the lead, Canara Bank went ahead 2-1 after Anirban Nandi lost his singles to Nitin Thiruvangadam 10-12, 11-8, 12-14, 9-11 and Pankaj Kumar to Rakshit Barigidad 7-11, 5-11, 11-6, 5-11. Ravi brought his team back on the rails when he defeated Nitin 8-11, 11-8, 11-6, 14-12 in the fourth rubber. Then it was left to the experienced Nandi to do the finishing job for Railways and he did it in style beating Airban Tarafder 11-6, 11-5, 11-6.

In the women team quarterfinals, PSPB and RSPB continued their winning ways along with RBI and AAI. Except for the last named team, who ran into Indian Audit & Accounts Department, struggled initially before overcoming their opponents 3-1. All the other teams that entered the semifinals posted an identical 3-0 win over their rivals.

PSPB, RBI QUALIFY

Meanwhile, PSPB’s Youth Boys team emerged on top of table and in the process, pushing Air India and AAI to the second and third spots. However, in Youth Girls, it was the Reserve Bank of India who pushed PSPB girls down to take the top perch in the four-team league. Thus, the PSPB boys and RBI girls have qualified to participate in the Junior and Youth Nationals to be held in Varanasi in December.  

Results (Team Evens):

Men: Semi-finals: PSPB bt RBI 3-0 (A. Amalraj bt Raj Mondal 12-10, 8-11, 11-9, 12-10, G. Sathiyan bt Vighney Reddy 11-9, 11-9, 13-11, Soumyajit Ghosh bt Asif Haque 11-7, 11-8, 9-11, 9-11, 12-10); RSPB bt CRSB 3-2 (Anirban Nandi bt Sivananda Seshadri 11-5, 15-13, 4-11, 12-10, Ravindra Kotiyan lost to Devesh Karia 10-12, 2-11, 5-11, E. Prabhakaran bt Hardik Bhatt 11-3, 11-5, 11-7, Anirban lost to Devesh 9-11, 7-11, 11-6, 5-11, Ravi bt Sivananda 11-5, 11-8, 13-11).

Quarterfinals: PSPB bt LIC 3-0, RBI bt Air India 3-0, RSPB bt Canara Bank 3-2, CRSB bt AAI 3-1.

Women: Semi-finals: Reserve Bank Sports Board bt Airports Authority of India 3-1 (Ayhika Mukherjee bt Selenadeepthi Selvakumar 11-6, 11-7, 11-5, Akula Sreeja lost to Moumita Datta 9-11, 11-9, 9-11, 8-11, Amrutha Pushpak bt Chipia Frenaz 12-10, 10-12, 11-9, 11-9, Ayhika bt Moumita 11-7, 9-11, 4-11, 11-7, 11-9); PSPB bt RSPB Madhurika Patkar bt Anindita Chakraborty 11-6, 12-10, 11-7, Manika Batra lost to Takeme Sarkar 4-11, 11-8, 7-11, 12-14, Pooja Sahasrabuddhe bt Sagarika Mukherjee 12-10, 11-8, 13-11, Madhrika bt Takeme 11-5, 11-7, 9-11, 14-12).

Quarterfinals: PSPB bt FCI 3-0, RSPB b CRSB 3-0, RBI bt Air India 3-0, AAI bt IAAD 3-1.

League Positions: Youth Boys: 1. PSPB, 2. Air India, 3. AAI; Youth Girls: 1. RBI, PSPB, 3. AAI, 4. Air India.