Petroleum closer to ‘double’; Takeme Sarkar stuns Manika Batra

The only worry for Petroleum was Manika’s loss to a battling Takeme.

Madhurika won against veteran campaigner Aninditya Chakraborty in the opener and then closed the tie by stopping Takeme.

Takeme Sarkar’s fighting victory over former National champion Manika Batra did not prove enough for Railways as Madhurika Patkar played her part to perfection for  Petroleum on way to the women’s team final of the LPS Bossard 47th All India inter-institutional table tennis championship here on Wednesday.

In contrast, the Petroleum had it easy ahead of Thursday’s title-clash against Railways.

The day also saw the Airports Authority of India, finalist in both sections last year, fall in the semifinals and thereby go out of the team events of the next National championship.

The only worry for Petroleum was Manika’s loss to a battling Takeme. However, Manika’s 4-11, 11-8, 7-11, 12-14 defeat did not hurt her team since Madhurika played like the National champion that she is. She won against veteran campaigner Aninditya Chakraborty in the opener and then closed the tie by stopping Takeme.

Among the men, Devesh Karia’s victories over Ravindra Kotiyan and Anirban Nandi proved in vain for Central Revenue as Railways battled back to clinch a place in the final through victories of Nandi, E. Prabhakaran and Kotiyan, in that order.

The results: Team championships:

Men: Semifinals: Petroleum beat Reserve Bank of India 3-0 (A. Amalraj bt Raj Mondal 12-10, 8-11, 11-9, 12-10; G. Sathiyan bt Vighney Reddy 11-9, 11-9, 13-11, Soumyajit Ghosh bt Asif Haque 11-7, 11-8, 9-11, 9-11, 12-10); Railways beat Central Revenue 3-2 (Anirban Nandi bt Sivananda Seshadri 11-5, 15-13, 4-11, 12-10; Ravindra Kotiyan lost to Devesh Karia 10-12, 2-11, 5-11; E. Prabhakaran bt Hardik Bhatt 11-3, 11-5, 11-7; Anirban lost to Devesh 9-11, 7-11, 11-6, 5-11; Ravindra Kotiyan bt Sivananda 11-5, 11-8, 13-11).

Quarterfinals: Petroleum bt Life Insurance 3-0, RBI bt Air India 3-0, Railways bt Canara Bank 3-2, Central Revenue bt Airport Authority of India 3-1.

Women: Semifinals: Petroleum bt Railways 3-1 (Madhurika Patkar bt Anindita Chakraborty 11-6, 12-10, 11-7; Manika Batra lost to Takeme Sarkar 4-11, 11-8, 7-11, 12-14; Pooja Sahasrabuddhe bt Sagarika Mukherjee 12-10, 11-8, 13-11; Madhurika bt Takeme 11-5, 11-7, 9-11, 14-12).

RBI bt AAI 3-1 (Ayhika Mukherjee bt Selenadeepthi Selvakumar 11-6, 11-7, 11-5; Akula Sreeja lost to Moumita Datta 9-11, 11-9, 9-11, 8-11; Amrutha Pushpak bt Chipia Frenaz 12-10, 10-12, 11-9, 11-9; Ayhika bt Moumita 11-7, 9-11, 4-11, 11-7, 11-9);

Quarterfinals: Petroleum bt Food Corporation of India 3-0, Railways bt Central Revenue 3-0, RBI bt Air India 3-0, AAI bt Indian Audit and Audit Department 3-1.

League Positions: Youth Boys: 1. Petroleum, 2. Air India, 3. AAI;

Youth Girls: 1. Reserve Bank of India, 2. Petroleum, 3. AAI, 4. Air India.