ONGC men, BPCL eves champions

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and BPCL emerged winners in the men’s and women’s team events respectively in the 36th PSPB inter-unit badminton championships here on Thursday.

ONGC men’s team defeated Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) 3-0 to lift the title.

Backed by solid performance from India internationals HS Prannoy and Sai Praneeth, ONGC took a commanding 2-0 lead before the duo of Pranav Jerry Chopra and Tarun Kona blanked Aditya Prakash and Arvind Bhatt 21-14, 21-8 to seal the tie for ONGC.
In the corresponding women’s final, BPCL, though without the services of Saina Nehwal, drubbed ONGC 2-0.

In the opening singles, world number 11 PV Sindhu got the better of Arundhati Pantawane 23-21, 21-11. She then paired up with Jwala Gutta to down Ashwini Ponnappa and PC Thulasi 21-15, 21-19 in 27 minutes.

Results: Team event: Men: Finals: ONGC bt BPCL 3-0; (Prannoy HS bt Aditya Prakash 21-16, 21-18; Sai Praneeth B bt Guru Sai Dutt 21-23, 21-11, 21-14; Pranav Jerry Chopra/Tarun Kona bt Aditya Prakash/Arvind Bhatt 21-14, 21-8.

Third place play-off: GAIL bt HPCL 3-0 (Shreyansh Jaiswal bt La Talar 21-11, 21-10; Arsalan Naqvi bt Ansal Yadav 21-14, 21-17; Ravinder Singh/ Shreyansh Jaiswal bt Ansal Yadav/La Talar 21-16 21-12).

Women: Final: BPCL bt ONGC 2-0 (Sindhu PV bt Arundhati Pantawane 23-21, 21-11; Jwala Gutta/PV Sindhu bt Ashwini Ponnappa/Thulasi PC 21-15, 21-19).
Third place play off: EIL lt to IOCL 0-2; (Madhu Gupta lt to Tanvi Lad 2-21, 1-21; Arti Narayan/Madhu Gupta lt to Aparna Balan/Tanvi Lad 2-21, 6-21).