New Delhi: K Srikant (IOCL) was in prime form against Saurabh Verma (ONGC) and raised his game to beat in him 21-19, 21-16 in the men’s singles championship on the final day of the XXXV PSPB Inter-unit Badminton Tournament 2013-14 hosted by Engineers India Limited here on Saturday.
The match saw some close net exchanges intermixed with some hard hitting rallies but Srikant’s ability to reach and return most smashes worked in his favour and he won the title in straight games.
In the women’s singles P C Thulasi (ONGC) announced her growing stature as a player to look out for when she beat India number one, Arundhati Panthawane (ONGC) in a closely contested match. The first game could have gone either way but Thulasi held her nerve to win it 23-21. The second game was won quite comfortably 21-15.
The men’s doubles was the final game of the tournament and witnessed some fierce rallies but the pair of Arun Vishnu and K Srikant (IOCL) were too strong for Pranav Chopra and Tarun Kona (ONGC). The IOCL pair won their match 21-12, 21-18.
In the overall context the tournament turned out to be a good outing for team BPCL as they won both the women’s team championships and the veteran’s team championships while ONGC won the men’s team championship in the initial days of the tournament.
The XXXV PSPB Inter Unit Badminton Tournament concluded with a high energy prize distribution ceremony and it truly demonstrated the badminton talent available within India. The prizes were given away by H C Nagar, V K Mahendru and the chief guest Ms. Veena Swarup. With all the top and emerging players as part of the PSPB fraternity, the nurturing which the new players receive was evident.
RESULTS
35th PSPB Inter-Unit Badminton Tournament-Hosted by EIL
Friday 27-09-2013
Men Singles
Finals
K Srikant[2] def. Saurabh Verma[3] 21-19 21-16
Women Singles
Finals
P C Thulasi[3] def. Arundhati Panthawane[1] 23-21 21-15
Men’s doubles
Finals
Arun Vishnu+K Srikant[2] def. Pranavchopra+Tarun Kona[1] 21-12 21-18