Sport
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Badminton
Historic Sunday for PSCB teams
By Rakesh Rao
The PSCB men's team (sitting from left): Nikhil Kanetkar, Chetan Anand, Abhinn Shyam Gupta and Ajit Wijetilak. Standing: Jaseel P. Ismail, Marcose Bristow, Dinesh Khanna, skipper Siddarth Jain and manager Pradeep Iyengar), which completed a hat-trick of titles in the National badminton championship at Lucknow on Sunday. Right: The triumphant PSCB women (B.R. Meenakshi, Jwala Gutta, Shruti Kurien and Aparna Popat) with the trophy. - Photos: Sandeep Saxena
LUCKNOW, JAN. 6. It was work as usual this Sunday for the Petroleum Sports Control Board shuttlers. They accomplished the job on hand without much ado and became the first team in the history of National badminton championship to complete a hat-trick of `double' triumphs.
At the K. D. Singh `Babu' Stadium, the PSCB men completed a 3-0 victory over Railways after the women's team had brushed aside Air-India 2-0. The margin, however, does not reflect the close battles witnessed in some of the matches.
Aparna was taken to four games by Trupti Murgunde and Abhinn Shyam Gupta had to stave off a two-game deficit to stop Sachin Ratti. Again in the doubles, G. Jwala and Shruti Kurien were taken to four games by Trupti and Fatima Nazneen, just as Ratti and Vijaydeep Singh did against Jaseel P. Ismail and Markose Bristow.
Though teams like Railways and Maharashtra have won the team titles on several occasions, this is the first time a State or Institution has captured the team honours for the third year in succession.
No one had really given Railways any realistic chance of upstaging PSCB. Once PSCB chose to field Abhinn in the first singles, against Ratti, there was a chance of an extended battle. Ratti did come close to giving Railways the lead but faltered on the big points to let Abhinn off the hook.
Abhinn, who enjoys a better head-to-head score against Ratti, was outplayed in the first game. In what was the season's first encounter between these two players of contrasting styles, Ratti's stroke-selection was superb and he moved exceptionally well to put the finishing touches to the rallies at the first available opportunity. Abhinn, known for his retrieving abilities, kept at it and managed to gain two game-points at 6-5 to level the game-score but it was Ratti who won this extended game.
Just when Ratti was expected to give it all in the third game, Abhinn began to claw back from 3-4. Though Ratti managed to save five game-points, Abhinn stayed in the match by taking the game at 7-5.
With the match becoming longer, Abhinn began to grow stronger. Ratti, on the other hand, could not keep up the pace seen in the initial phase. He began finding the net on the big points and that cost him heavily. In the fourth game, Ratti's returns became inconsistent and it was Abhinn who looked in total control. Though Ratti managed to lead 4-3, it was Abhinn who jumped to 6-4. He let go of the first game-point but converted the second to win 7-5.
In the decider, it was only a matter of time before Abhinn won. Abhinn, making the most of the negative points offered by Ratti, broke away from 2-2 to close the match. A couple of dubious line calls did go against Ratti but those, in no way, influenced the final outcome.
Thereafter, Chetan Anand demolished Mangrish Palekar in just 17 minutes for the loss of just three points in as many games. The doubles match provided the crowd with something to cheer about before Jaseel and Bristow put their stamp of authority.
Aparna stretched
Earlier, Aparna took longer than expected - 32 minutes to be precise - against Trupti after failing to check the erroneous streak that crept into her game in the second and third games. Aparna raced away with the first game in which Trupti failed to score off three serving opportunities.
In the second game, Aparna's repeated mistakes helped Trupti to bounce back from 1-5 to reach game-point at 6-5. However, Aparna got hold of her game in the nick of time to reel off the next three points.
The following game was the closest with both players looking tentative. Trupti, down 0-3, won four points in a row with Aparna's defence looking increasingly suspect. Though Trupti moved to 6-4, it was Aparna who rallied to reach match-point at 7-6. But Trupti was not to be denied this time. She drew level and eventually managed to snatch the game 8-7. Any visions of a prolonged battle ended in a flash as Aparna, serving 3-2, won four points on the trot to close the match.
Similarly, there was no doubt over the abilities of National doubles champions, G. Jwala and Shruti Kurien, to tame Air-India's Trupti and Fatima Nazneen. Still, it is to the credit of Air-India's pair that it managed to take a game off the country's top combination.
In fact, Trupti and Fatima could have embarrassed PSCB much more had they not blown away a 6-3 lead in the second game after winning the first with ease. Thereafter, Jwala and Shruti raised their level by a few notches. They made it 6-6 and never looked back in the remainder of the match.
lThe results: Team championship (finals):
Men: PSCB beat Railways 3-0 (Abhinn Shyam Gupta bt Sachin Ratti 1-7, 6-8, 7-5, 7-5, 7-2; B. Chetan Anand bt Mangrish Palekar 7-0, 7-2, 7-1; Jaseel P. Ismail and Markose Bristow bt Vijaydeep Singh and Sachin Ratti 7-2, 6-8, 7- 4, 8-6).
Women: PSCB beat Air-India 2-0 (Aparna Popat bt Trupti Murgunde 7-0, 8-6, 7-8, 7-2; G. Jwala/Shruti Kurien bt Trupti/Fatima Nazneen 2-7, 8-6, 7-0, 7-5).
Saturday's results (team championship):
Men (semifinals): Railways bt Kerala 3- 1.
Women (semifinals): Air-India bt Andhra Pradesh 2-1.
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