PSPB teams reign supreme
The Hindu
They blank Maharashtra-A in both the summit clashes
There wasn’t any doubt about the class of the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) teams in the senior Nationals and inter-State table tennis championships here, but only about the margin of victory in the summit clash.
The men’s team retained the title (25th overall) while its women’s (16th) regained the crown with identical 3-0 victories over Maharashtra-A teams.
The Maharashtra women’s team, it was believed, would give PSPB a tough fight, but it turned out to be completely one-sided. Moreover, PSPB hadn’t won the title in the last two editions (2018 & 2019), finishing runner-up and third respectively
None of them, be it Diya Chitale, India joint No. 1 in domestic rankings, Swastika Ghosh, or Annanya Basak would make a match out of it against PSPB.
In the first tie, Archana Kamath outclassed Diya in three straight games and Manika Batra was troubled by Swastika Ghosh briefly, before the National champion came down hard on the latter. Reeth Rishya completed the formalities with a hard-fought win over Annanya.
Though the PSPB men’s team won 3-0, the first two matches did go some distance.
The first match involving G. Sathiyan and Deepit Rajesh Patil was the best of the lot, and could have been the upset of the championships had the 18-year-old Deepit won the important moments in the tie. There were no signs of Deepit’s fightback in the first game as Sathiyan won first 11-0. But, midway in the second, the youngster started to show his mettle.
Daniel Quizon is the latest to join the band of leaders. The Philippines player beat Russian Artion Stribuk on the third board in the ninth round at the Gift City Club on Tuesday. The four overnight leaders – Kazybek Nogerbek of Kazakhstan, Russia’s Rudik Makarian, Mamikon Gharibyan of Armenia, and Colombia’s Jose Gabriel Cardoso – were featured in the drawn games on the top two boards.
On the seam-friendly pitches at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, Axar Patel’s left-arm spin plays second fiddle to the pacers. Axar, however, has added great value as a batter. The southpaw, promoted to No. 4 in the Pakistan outing on Sunday, held the Indian innings together with an 18-ball 20.