New Delhi: Airports Authority of India, investing on a new young team, dethroned Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) to win the Youth Girls team title in the ongoing RSPB hosted 45th All India International Table Tennis Championships at the Thyagraj Stadium here today.

Dena Bank’s Youth Boys team is on the brink of a title, a first for the institution, in any major championships. Having won three of their four matches, their team is sitting pretty with a match in hand against the RSPB. PSPB, however, have finished their round-robin engagements with three triumphs and one loss and should finish behind Dena Bank.

But it is the story of AAI which has brought about the transformation in recruitment after a dull period last year, having to suffer the brunt of strict TTFI guidelines on age-related issues. The institution had to sack some of their players who, while seeking scholarship or employment, had submitted false age-proof certificates but were found to be over age. Apart from good investment, AAI had an equally good policy of concentrating on one section rather than playing the same set of players in senior category. It has paid them rich dividends.

Once the AAI paddlers triumphed over PSPB yesterday, they just had to complete the formality of posting wins over Air India and Dena Bank in the four-team league. In fact, the AAI troika of Sreeja Akula, Archana Kamath and Maria Rony did their job to perfection to post 3-0 victories over their rivals to seal the title in their favour.

PSPB, RBI women in final

The men and women teams of PSPB made up for the loss of Youth titles as they entered the finals without dropping a sweat. PSPB’s men, comprising Sanil Shetty, Soumyajit Ghosh and G. Sathiyan made it a one-sided affair against AAI. Though both Setty and Ghosh dropped a game each against their rivals Sarthak Gandhi and Sushmit Sriram, respectively, Sathiyan blanked out Vivek Bhargava in straight games.

PSPB will take on hosts RSPB, who won 3-1 against CRSB in the other semifinal. For Railways, veteran Anirban Nandi played a decisive role when he won against Aman Balgu in the fourth rubber after Ravindra Kotiyan and Noel Pinto had given the hosts a 2-1 lead. Nandi, however, lost his first singles to Devesh Karia, putting them in some sort of trouble.

PSPB women, too, inflicted a 3-0 triumph over AAI with Manika Batra showing sparks along with Mouma Das and Ankita Das. In fact, the AAI women were no match to the PSPB’s experienced paddlers. RBI, who had an easy 3-1 win over Central Revenue Sports Board (CRSB) in the quarterfinals, defeated FCI 3-0 in the second semifinals.

After the team finals tomorrow, the qualifying rounds in individual events will begin. The singles will be keenly watched by national selectors who will pick the squad for the Bangkok Asian Championships to be held in September. The teams will be named on August 3.

RESULTS:

Men: Semifinals: PSPB bt AAI 3-0 (Sanil Shetty bt SArthak Gandhi 11-2, 11-4, 5-11, 11-5, Soumyajit Ghosh bt Sushmit Sriram 11-8, 3-11, 11-7, 11-6, G. Sathiyan bt Vivek Bhargava 11-5, 12-10, 11-9), RSPB bt CRSB 3-1 (Anirban Nandi lost to Devesh Karia 11-3, 9-11, 9-11, 10-12, Ravindra Kotiyan bt Aman Balgu 11-7, 14-12, 11-9, Noel Pinto bt Hardik Bhatt 11-1, 11-3, 6-11, 11-8, Anirban Nandi bt Aman Balgu 11-8, 7-11, 13-11, 11-5).

Women: Semifinals: PSPB bt AAI 3-0 (Manika Batra bt Amrutha Pushpak 12-14, 11-8, 11-9, 11-7, Mouma Das bt Frenaz Chipia 11-5, 11-7, 11-9, Ankita Das bt Ayhika Mukherjee 11-6, 11-8, 13-11), RBI b t FCI 3-0 (Krittwika Sinha Roy bt Sagarika Mukherjee 12-10, 7-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-3, Shweta Parte bt Charvi Kawle 11-7, 11-8, 11-7, Shruti Talnikar bt Garima Goyal 7-11, 2-11, 11-6, 13-11, 12-10).

Youth Boys: PSPB bt RSPB 3-0, PSPB bt AAI 3-0, PSPB lost to 2-3; Air India bt RSPB 3-0, Air India lost to Dena Bank 1-3; AAI lost to PSPB 1-3, AAI lost to Dena Bank 2-3; RSPB lost to PSPB 0-3, RSPB lost to Air India 0-3; Dena Bank bt PSPB 3-2, Dena Bank bt Air India 3-1, Dena Bank bt AAI 3-2.

Youth Girls: PSPB bt Air India 3-0, PSPB lost to AAI 2-3, PSPB bt Dena Bank 3-0; Air India lost to PSPB 0-3, Air India lost to AAI 0-3, Air India bt Dena Bank 3-0; AAI bt PSPB 3-2, AAI bt Air India 3-0, AAI bt Dena Bank 3-0; Dena Bank lost to PSPB 0-3, Dena Bank lost to Air India 0-3, Dena Bank lost to AAI 0-3. Positions: 1. AAI, 2. PSPB, 3. Air India, 4.Dena Bank.