The partnership of Aparna Balan and Prajakta Sawant of IOCL thrashed Ashwini Ponnappa and Arathi Sara Sunil of ONGC in straight games by 27-25 21-15 to win the women's doubles title on the second last day of the 35th PSPB Inter Unit Badminton Tournament on Thursday.
The first game was a tough one as both pairs attacked relentlessly. In fact, Balan and Sawant were too aggressive in targeting young Arathi.
In the second game, Balan and Sawant dominated initially due to a few unforced errors from the ONGC pair. However, the gap was too large to fill and Balan and Sawant easily emerged as winners.
On the other side, BPCL continued with their good run in the championships when George Thomas hammered B Gurung of HPCL in the men's veterans final. Ultimately, George won the match comfortably by 21-12 21-14.
Remarkably, BPCL was equally dominant in the veteran's doubles. Bhushan Akut and George Thomas won their match against the combination of Milind Ghate and Pradeep Iyengar quite comfortably by 21-10 21-9.
In the men's semifinal event, national champion Saurabh Verma of ONGC ruled over his 21-10 21-18 victory against former international player Chetan Anand. Subsequently, he is scheduled to play against K Srikant of IOCL in the finals on Friday. Srikant had won his match against H S Prannoy following retired hurt due to an injury.
In the women's singles semifinals title, Arundhati Panthawane of ONGC hammered teammate Riya Pillai by 21-17 21-14 to go for a final clash against P C Thulasi, who is from ONGC too. Thulasi trounced a Tanvi Lad of IOCL by 21-17 21-14.
Notably, the women’s singles, men's singles and men's doubles finals are scheduled to be played tomorrow at the DDA Squash and Badminton Stadium.
