No stopping the Petroleum battalion

FEBRUARY 25: Petroleum Sports Control Board crowned a memorable debut by recording a double in the Indian Oil Servo Rahimtoola and Chadha ...

FEBRUARY 25: Petroleum Sports Control Board crowned a memorable debut by recording a double in the Indian Oil Servo Rahimtoola and Chadha Cup Inter-state Badminton Championships on Friday. PSCB routed Kerala 3-0 in the Rahimtoola Cup for men, and clinched the Chadha Cup for women with a 2-0 verdict against Karnataka.

The only player who promised to give a fight to the Petroleum powerhouses, on the basis of pre-match reputation, was Karnataka’s 21-year-old BR Meenakshi. But she was up against the best female player in the country, Aparna Popat, in the first singles of the women’s final. Meenakshi held her own by keeping Aparna in check in the first half of both the games and then tapered off.

Kerala threw left-handed Joy T Antony in the first singles against Pullela Gopi Chand, who required only 25 minutes to win the tie 15-4, 15-5. Joy had no chance as the National champion from Indian Oil could have it easy despite playing at half pace.

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In the second singles, former National junior champion Thomas Kurien’s second game score (11-15) against Nikhil Kanetkar may suggest a good fight but it was only during a short period after Kanetkar had taken a 9-1 and 14-6 lead. In the first game too, Kurien had resisted for a while from 0-4 to 7-10.

In the doubles, Jaseel P Ismail and Vincent Lobo needed only 28 minutes to beat former National junior champions V Diju and Sanave Thomas 15-7, 15-8. Meenakshi rallied from early deficits in both the games against Aparna Popat to level the scores at 5-all. In the second, the Karnataka girl could stretch it a little further till 7-all. Aparna was too good to allow this to drift into any dangerous proportions.

Manjusha Kanwar and PVV Lakshmi defeated Pooja Patil and Adithi Biswas 15-1, 15-0 in 13 minutes to complete the rout. Lights went off after the men’s doubles causing a delay of 15 minutes.

The open events begin on Saturday.

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