PSPB: ONGC to take on IOC in team finals

Except for the men’s second semifinal, where IOC battled back from 0-2 to down Bharat Petroleum 3-2, all other matches were one-sided.

World No. 11 Sameer Verma beat P. Vishnuvardhan to put Bharat Petroleum ahead.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) will clash in both team finals of the 39th PSPB inter-unit badminton tournament here on Wednesday.

Except for the men’s second semifinal, where IOC battled back from 0-2 to down Bharat Petroleum 3-2, all other matches were one-sided.

After World No. 11 Sameer Verma beat P. Vishnuvardhan to put Bharat Petroleum ahead, the lead stood doubled when R. M.V. Gurusaidutt easily crushed Ajay Jayaram.

Thereafter, it took M.R. Arjun and Chirag Shetty to show Sameer and Gurusaidutt that two singles specialists need not necessarily make a good doubles combination.

With the tie-score at 1-2, IOC raced away with the remaining two matches. Bharat Petroleum’s veteran and former National champion George Thomas was no match to Priyanshu Rajawat. He returned for the deciding doubles with another former National doubles champion Bhushan Akut but the IOC’s pair of Manu Attri and Vishnuvardhan proved far superior.

Team championship results:

Men: Semifinals: ONGC bt Oil India 3-0 (H. S. Prannoy bt Orijit Chaliha 21-12, 21-17; B. Sai Praneeth bt Swaranraj Bora 21-11, 25-23; Pranaav Chopra and Tarun Kona bt Swaranraj Bora and Hirak Jyoti Neog 21-120, 16-21, 21-9); Indian Oil bt Bharat Petroleum 3-2 (P. Vishnuvardhan lost to Sameer Verma 14-21, 13-21; Ajay Jayaram lost to R.M.V. Gurusaidutt 6-21, 10-21; M. R. Arjun and Chirag Shetty bt Gurusaidutt and Sameer 21-13, 21-15; Priyanshu Rajawat bt George Thomas 21-9, 21-9; Manu Attri and P. Vishnuvardhan bt Bhushan Akut and George Thomas 21-9, 21-8).

Quarterfinals: ONGC bt Engineers India 3-0; Oil India bt MRPL 3-0; Indian Oil bt GAIL 3-0; Bharat Petroleum bt Hindustan Petroleum 3-0.

Women: Semifinals: ONGC bt MRPL 2-0 (Rituparna Das bt Latha Kumari 21-6, 21-4; Rituparna Panda and Ashwini Ponnappa bt Priya and Sumitra 21-4, 21-2); Indian Oil bt Engineers India 2-0 (Sai Uttejitha Rao bt Shanthi Priya 21-2, 21-1; Aparna Balan and Sikki Reddy bt Sampada and Arti Narayan 21-7, 21-4).

Quarterfinals: ONGC bye; MRPL bt Hindustan Petroleum 2-0; Engineers India bt GAIL 2-0; Indian Oil bye.