Air India finally ended the winning streak of Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) in the national team championship for men, scoring a 3-2 victory in the Air Costa 70th inter-State, inter-zonal team championship here on Sunday.
Harsheel Dani, fighting a back injury, suffered a slight wobble before ejecting Grand Prix gold medal winner H.S. Prannoy 18-21, 21-17, 21-12. Sameer Verma, who lost the first game, bounced back to defeat B. Sai Praneeth 18-21, 21-11, 21-17.
Stunned by two back-to-back losses, Srikanth joined hands with Pranaav Jerry Chopra to quell Shlok Ramachandran and Sanyam Shukla’s challenge 21-15, 21-17, and later got the better of Aditya Joshi 21-15, 21-12 to make the scoreline 2-all.
PSPB women, led by World No. 10 P.V. Sindhu, wrested the title for the 15th consecutive time, getting the better of Telangana, which was making its maiden entry into the final.
Sindhu scored a 21-15, 21-16 victory over Rithvika Shivani and later, partnering Ashwini Ponnappa, tamed J. Meghana and Rituparna Das 21-14, 5-21, 21-11. Doubles specialist G. Jwala did not participate in the final owing to a stiff neck.
The results: Team championship: Rahimtoola Cup: Final: Men:Air India bt PSPB 3-2 (Harsheel Dani bt H.S. Prannoy 18-21, 21-17, 21-12; Sameer Verma bt Sai Praneeth 18-21, 21-11, 21-17; Shlok Ramachandran & Sanyam Shukla lost to Pranaav Jerry Chopra & K. Srikanth 15-21, 17-21; Aditya Joshi lost to K. Srikanth 15-21, 12-21; Akshay Dewalkar & G. Gopi Raju bt K. Tarun & B. Sai Praneeth 18-21, 21-19, 21-14). Semifinals:PSPB bt Kerala 3-1 (H.S. Prannoy bt Alwin Francis 21-15, 21-16; B. Sai Praneeth bt Shyam Prasad 21-7, 15-21, 21-6; K. Tarun & Arun Vishnu lost to Sanave Thomas & K.T. Rupesh Kumar 12-21, 25-27; K. Srikanth bt K. Dilshad 21-14, 21-14).
Air India bt Maharashtra 3-1 (Harsheel Dani lost to Subhankar Dey 21-18, 17-21, 19-21; Sameer Verma bt Kabir Kanzarkar 21-9, 21-9; Shlok Ramachandran & Sanyam Shukla bt Kabir Kanzarkar & Akshay Raut 21-18, 21-8; Aditya Joshi bt Nigel D’Sa 21-17, 21-9).
Chadha Cup: Final: Women:PSPB bt Telangana 2-0 (P.V. Sindhu bt G. Ruthvika Shivani 21-15, 21-16; Ashwini Ponnappa & Sindhu bt J. Meghana & Rituparna Das 21-14, 5-21, 21-11). Semifinals: PSPB bt Airports Authority of India 2-1 (P.V. Sindhu bt Rasika Raje 21-11, 21-4; G. Jwala & Ashwini Ponnappa lost to Pradnya Gadre & N. Sikki Reddy 16-21, 20-22; P.C. Thulasi bt N. Sikki Reddy 4-3 retd).
Telangana bt Maharashtra 2-0 (Rituparna Das bt Neha Pandit 21-19, 21-17; J. Meghana & Rituparna Das bt Mudra Dhainje & Shruti Mundada 21-16, 21-19).
