New Delhi, August 7: Second-seed G. Sathiyan and third-seeded Pooja Sahasrabuddhe lifted the men and women singles trophies without much of a sweat in the LPS Bossard 47th All India Inter-Institutional Championships at theTable Tennis Foundation hall here today.

Their winning efforts fetched them Rs. 80,000 and Rs. 70,000, respectively. It was the successive title wins for Sathiyan, who blanked out Harmeet Desai 4-0, while Pooja claimed her maiden crown in a major tournament after accounting for national champion Madhurika Patkar 4-0.

The men and women singles finals as well as the semi-finals were similar in more ways than one. If the score-lines in the finals were same for the winners, the semi-finals scores in men singles were 4-1 and 4-2 in women; both the finals and semi-finals lacked the intensity and brilliance of the quarterfinal matches.

The men singles players may have warmed up more than required but Sathiyan took a little over 20 minutes to make Harmeet push and prod even as the winner kept finding winners after winners. Harmeet was absolutely in a daze and could not do anything against an in-form Sathiyan.

In women singles final, Pooja had very little resistance except being extended in two games. But Madhurika, who helped her team win title and doing so well until the final, was somewhat handicapped and failed to cross the final hurdle. Pooja, who won the first game comfortably, kept a nice tempo and continued it until the end.

Earlier in the day, the men and women singles semi-finals were similar in more ways than one. The 4-1 and 4-2 score-lines, respectively, for the winners apart, the intensity and brilliance of quarterfinals were missing.

Sharath Kamal, who had an excellent run this season, was found wanting against Harmeet Desai as Harmeet kept hammering in winners. His backhand matched every stroke of Sharath and despite losing the opening game, Harmeet played really well to beat the top-seed. Sharath, when he conceded the 2-1 lead, it looked as if he had thrown in the towel. And that is precisely what happened as Harmeet went on to pile on the agony of the top-ranked Indian in the world who failed to keep the ball on table, culminating in his exit.

Sathiyan proved too good for Arjun, who managed to take a game off his rival. Against the pace of Sathiyan, Arjun was rendered clueless even as his forehand seemed to have deserted him on the day. He became more error-prone except perhaps in the second game which made Sathiyan’s job a lot easier.

Ankita Das looked like giving a good fight to the top-seeded Madhurika who dropped two games. But Madhurika gained ascendancy as she kept attacking Ankita to keep her out of the match. Even Pooja Sahasrabuddhe did the same to Takeme Sarkar, also from Siliguri like Ankita, but representing the Railways. The tone was set in the opening game which Pooja won very comfortably. However, Takeme came back nicely twice to tame Pooja for a while but the PSPB girl could not be denied her place under the sun as she upped the ante after Takeme took her second game at 13-1 to level the score.

In men doubles, the PSPB pair of Sudhanshu Grover and Abhishek Yadav combined well to beat teammates Sanil Shetty and Jubin Kumar 3-2. The left-handed pairs did well to come back after being down 0-2 but wilted in the decisive fifth game to end up with the silver medal.

In women doubles, the RBI pair of Akula Sreeja and Ayhika Muherjee defeated their AAI rivals Moumita Dutta and Kaushani Nath 3-2 in a thriller. Down 0-2, the AAI came recovered to level the score but in the decider it was the RBI duo that pulled it off to win the title.

Results:

Men Singles: (Final): G. Sathiyan (PSPB) bt Harmeet Desai (PSPB) 11-5, 11-1, 11-4, 11-4; Semi-finals: Harmeet Desai bt A. Sharath Kamal (PSPB) 8-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-4, 11-7, G. Sathiyan bt Arjun Ghosh (AAI) 11-6, 7-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-6.

Women Singles: (Final):  Pooja Sahasrabuddhe (PSPB) bt Madhurika Patkar (PSPB) 11-9, 12-10, 12-10, 11-7; Semi-finals: Madhurika Patkar bt Ankita Das (PSPB) 5-11, 11-6, 4-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-7, Pooja Sahasrabuddhe bt Take Sarkar (RSPB) 11-1, 8-11, 11-7, 11-13, 11-3, 11-7.

Men Doubles (Final): Sudhanshu Grover/Abhishek Yadav (PSPB) bt Sanil Shetty/Juin Kumar (PSPB) 11-9, 13-11, 10-12, 7-11, 11-3.

Women Doubles (Final): Akula Sreeja/Ayhika Mukheree (RBI) bt Moumita Dutta/Kaushani Nath (AAI) 11-6, 11-5, 8-11, 7-11, 11-5.

New Delhi, August 4: With the team events having concluded yesterday in the LPS Bossard 47th All India Inter-Institutional Championships, it was time for players to show their prowess in singles at the Table Tennis Foundation hall here as the qualification processes began today.

With 122 men players, the main draw will be of 128 with six byes, while it will be a draw of 64 in women section with two preliminary rounds because of 33 groups.

The expanded draw has given wider opportunity—instead of one player qualifying from each group now two make it to the main draw—for the players. The main draw which begins tomorrow will see the seeded players joining action later in the day tomorrow. The competition department of TTFI had conducted the open draw on the first day for the seeded players with the top-heavy draw.

It also meant that the possibility of top-seeded Sharath Kamal running early into Anthony Amalraj (No. 16 seed) in the pre-quarters and Soumyajit Ghosh (No. 8) in the quarters. But for No. 2 seed G. Sathiyan, who is in the bottom half, is not expected to face any early troubles from the bottom half.

Top-8 seeds:

Men: A Sharath Kamal, G. Sathiyan, Arjun Ghosh, Harmeet Desai, Raj Mondal, Sougata Sarkar, Subhajit Saha, Soumyajit Ghosh.

Women: Madhurika Patkar, Suthirtha Mukherjee, Pooja Shasrabuddhe, Akula Sreeja, Poulami Ghatak, Manika btra, Takeme Sarkar and Archana Kamath.

New Delhi, August 1: As expected Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) topped group A with a clean slate, beating FCI and Ordinance Factory Sports Control Board with an identical margin of 3-0 and sounded a huge warning to the rest of teams in the LPS Bossard 47th All India Inter-Institutional Championships, which began at the Table Tennis Foundation hall here today.

It was business as usual for Airports Authority of India in group B as they defeated LIC and All India Electricity Board 3-0, respectively to top their group. RBI accounted for ESIC 3-1 and bet Ministry of Communications and IT 3-0 in group C. RSPB in group D retained the top slot with 3-0 wins over Defence Accounts and Department of Atomic Energy.

In group E, Canara Bank struggled past Air India 3-2 while it was a 3-0 cakewalk against BSNL and in the last group F, which consists of four teams, Indian Audit emerged on top with 3-2 triumph over Central Revenue and then beat both Air Force Sports Control Board and Major Ports Control Board 3-0 to move into the second stage. The second teams that qualified include FCI, IC, ESIC, Defence Accounts, Air India and Central Revenue.

With the top four teams getting first round byes, PSPB, AAI, RBI and RSPB will have the luxury of some rest before resuming their intense battle for the team title from second round onwards.

On the distaff side, it was a struggle for the PSPB team to begin with. However, three match points loss to Sanya Sehgal of Indian Audit against former national champion Poulami Ghatak meant a lease line for the champion side as they went on the strength of Manika Batra, who equalled the score after Archana Kamath went down to Swetha Kumaravel 5-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-5, 10-12.

In the third rubber, Sanya was sitting pretty in the decider and had three match points but she squandered them to let Poulami off the hook as she won three deuces 11-9, 7-11, 11-3, 8-11, 15-13. Then Manika accounted for Swetha in her reverse singles to shut the door on Indian Audit. But for this stuttering start for PSPB, other women teams went through the motions to post easy wins. Despite one more round remaining to be played tomorrow, one does not see much of a change in the script of top teams qualifying for the second round. As of now, PSPB with two wins, like most others, are through to the second stage. But a clear picture on the second teams will be known only tomorrow.

But the story of the day could well be the open draw for the seeded players in singles which begin from the day after. The draw has thrown open the possibility of top-seeded Sharath Kamal running early into Anthony Amalraj (No. 16 seed) in the pre-quarters and Soumyajit Ghosh (No. 8) in the quarters. On the other hand, No. 2 seed G. Sathiyan is not expected to face any early troubles from the bottom half.

Top-8 seeds:

Men: A Sharath Kamal, G. Sathiyan, Arjun Ghosh, Harmeet Desai, Raj Mondal, Sougata Sarkar, Subhajit Saha, Soumyajit Ghosh.

Women: Madhurika Patkar, Suthirtha Mukherjee, Pooja Shasrabuddhe, Akula Sreeja, Poulami Ghatak, Manika btra, Takeme Sarkar and Archana Kamath.

New Delhi, July 31: Achanta Sharath Kamal has cleverly preferred singles in the LPS Bossard 47th All India Inter-Institutional Championships, starting at the Table Tennis Foundation tomorrow, giving a skip to the team event.  The top-ranked Indian in the world at No. 43, who turned 35 early this month, knew what suits him best at this stage and how long and well he can contribute to Indian table tennis.

Yet his absence in the team championships will, in no way, stop the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) juggernaut from adding the 16th title this year. In fact, his absence should serve as an opportunity to G. Sathiyan, Soumyajit Ghosh, Anthony Amalraj, Harmeet Desai and Subhajit Saha to keep the team flag flying high. Even otherwise, there is hardly a team that looks like derailing PSPB’s plans despite the Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB), who failed to qualify for the final last season and thus losing the opportunity in many years to compete in the senior nationals at Manesar (Haryana), strategizing differently this time.

Railways, instead of the usual mixed camp, had one camp for the women at Kolkata and another for their men at Bengaluru, plotting to secure a better position, if not try and upset the PSPB applecart. However, runners-up Airports Authority of India (AAI), with Sushmit Sriram, Sarthak Gandhi, Arjun Ghosh, Anirban Ghosh and Abhinav Belwal, look more compact and could be the team to pose questions to the superiority of PSPB.

In effect, it will be a contest between PSPB and AAI in the men while the rest of team in fray will merely look ahead to improve their last year’s positions. This means the focus, after the three-day team championships, will shift to the singles showdown where PSPB paddlers like Sathiyan, Ghosh, Harmeet and Amalraj with Sharath in fray, will be fiercely competing.

As for the women’s fare, PSPB will be spearheaded by reigning national champion Madhurika Patkar, Manika Batra, Pooja Sahasrabuddhe, young Archana Kamath and veteran and former national champion Poulami Ghatak. They are obviously the best available from the PSPB pool and will aim to add their 14th silverware in team championships. But one cannot rule out the vulnerability in crunch situations as one witnessed during the Manesar senior nationals despite their opponents, including AAI, not posing any real threat on paper at least.

With 19 teams competing in men section, they have been divided into six groups of three each and four while the 13 teams in women’s category are bunched in four, led by PSPB in group A which has three teams.

In Youth team events, where only three and four teams each figure in Boys and Girls, respectively, the contest for title seems to be between PSPB and AAI in boys while in girls category, it could be between PSPB and RBI with AAI a third distant possibility. Both the boys and girls team championships will be a round-robin affair.

If Archana, who was part of AAI last year, has shifted the scales in favour of PSPB, RBI has the liks of Sreeja Akula, Ayhika Mukherjee and Harshavardhini and Priyadarshini Das. Similarly, PSPB have Manav Thakkar leading the charge with Ronit Bhanja, Birdie Boro and Utkarsh Gupta while AAI will look up to Anirban Ghosh, chopper Lalrin Puia, Snehit Suravajjala and Manush Shah, the last two named finishing among medals at the Jordan Junior and Cadet Open at Amman.

The doubles events—two teams in men and women and four in mixed allowed—may not be as glamourous but they do offer reasonable prize money in each category to motivate all top pairs to compete. The total prize purse of the championships will be Rs. 4.25 lakh.

“We will be using both STAG and DHS balls for the team events and singles, respectively, while Stag flooring and tables will be used during the championships,” said competition manager Ganeshan Neelakanta Iyer. A.S. Kler will be the chief referee and he will be assisted by deputy referees Sridhar Srinivasan, Arundati Brahmachari and N.K. Lahiry along with 30 technical officials, including Blue Badge, International and national umpires, from all around the country.

The opening day matches are scheduled to start at 10 a.m. with the men team events.