Harpal Singh Bedi / Greater Noida
Star Studded ONGC overcame spirited IOCL to retain the Men and the Women teams titles in 39th PSPB Inter Unit Badminton tournament at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Greater Noida on Wednesday.
ONGC’s men’s won 3-1 and the Women’s team emerged 2-1 winner in a well-contested finals. However IOCL claimed the Veterans team final beating the ONGC 2-0
In the women’s team final Sai Uttejitha Rao Chukka (IOCL) upset the higher ranked Rituparna Das (ONGC) 21-19, 17-21, 21-13,Under pressure, Rituparna made more unforced errors and lost the 3rd game tamely.
In the doubles, the Rutaparna Panda and the experienced Ashwini Ponnappa got the measure of IOCL pair Aparna Balan and N Sikki Reddy 21-18, 21-17 to draw parity.
In the decider between PC Thulasi and Tanvi Lad (IOCL),Thulasi lost the first set but her superior fitness saw her win the next two quite comfortably with the scores reading as 14-21, 21-12, 21-9 .
The Men’s team final ONGC took the lead with HS Prannoy beating P Vishnuvardhan 21-16, 21-19 and then B Sai Praneeth made it 2-0 for winners as he humbled Ajay Jayaram 21-13, 21-11.
In the doubles, IOCL pulled back in a thrilling encounter when their doubles pair of MR Arjun and Chirag Shetty beat B Sai Praneeth and HS Prannoy 21-16, 22-24, 21-14.
The fourth match, a singles between the determined Sourabh Verma (ONGC) and the talented Priyanshu Rajawat (IOCL) was fiercely fought.
17-year-old Priyanshu put up a spirited fight but Sourabh’s experience and court craft helped him prevail 21-19, 20-22, 21-15 .