Central Railway grab men's crown

Torgalkar does star turn by winning deciding singles against Southern

In a tense title clash that went down to the wire, Omkar Torgalkar emerged the hero for the winners, edging out M Subash in a fluctuating deciding rubber 13-11, 11-2, 13-11.
Torgalkar had given Central the lead with a hard-fought five-game conquest of G Vinod, but Southern surged back into contention through Subash, who levelled scores at one rubber apiece by outlasing Aman Balgu in a thriller. L Sachin put Southern ahead by outclassing Martand Biniwale, raising visions of a Southern triumph, but Balgu atoned for his earlier defeat by putting it past Vinod to make it two matches apiece and push the final to a deciding tie.

With Torgalkar in his elements against a blow-hot, blow-cold Subash, Central thus knotted up the title.

Western Railway finished third, with an identical 3-2 win over South Eastern Railway in the play-off fixture.

Results: Final: Central Railway bt Southern Railway 3-2 (Omkar Torgalkar bt G Vinod 11-8, 7-11, 9-11, 12-10, 11-9; Aman Balgu lt to M Subash 11-9, 7-11, 10-12, 11-8, 9-11; Martand Biniwale lt to L Sachin 6-11, 12-14, 9-11; A Balgu bt G Vinod 11-13, 11-4, 11-5, 11-2; O Torgalkar bt M Subash 13-11, 11-2, 13-11.

Semifinals: Southern Railway bt Western Railway 3-1 (G Vinod bt Harmeet Desai 11-5, 8-11, 11-5, 11-9; M Subash lt to Arpit Bhopalkar 9-11, 6-11, 12-10, 7-11; L Sachin bt Niloy Basak 13-11, 11-5, 4-11, 11-8; Vinod bt A Bhopalkar 11-7, 10-12, 11-7, 12-10).
Central Railway bt South Eastern Railway 3-1 (Omkar Torgalkar bt S Sarkar 4-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8; Aman Balgu bt C Choudhary 11-7, 14-12, 11-8; M Biniwale lt to S Kundu 8-11, 6-11, 11-9, 9-11; A Balgu bt S Sarkar 10-12, 4-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-9).

Third-place play-off: Western Railway bt South Eastern Railway 3-2 (Harmeet Desai bt S Sarkar 8-11, 15-13, 11-8, 17-19, 5-11; Arpit Bhopalkar bt C Choudary 9-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-6; Milar Basak lt to S Kundu 11-6, 11-7, 11-7; A Bhopalkar lt to S Sarkar 11-6, 5-11, 5-11, 7-11; H Desai bt C Chowdhary 11-9, 11-6, 11-3).

Final standings: Central Railway 1; Southern Railway 2; Western Railway 3; South Eastern Railway 4.

Women: Western Railway bt  Metro Railway, Delhi 3-1 (Manish Bhagwat lt to Shreya Ghosh 11-7, 8-11, 11-5, 5-11, 11-13; Roona Roy bt B Sonali 11-4, 11-7, 11-8; Jahnavi Deshpande bt Samarpika Pal 11-2, 11-8, 11-9; Roona Roy bt Shreya Ghosh 11-8, 11-13, 12-10, 11-4).

South Eastern Railway bt Eastern Railway 3-1 (Jayeti Pushilal lt to S Kundu 11-6, 5-11, 11-7, 12-14, 11-7; Arindito C bt A Saha 11-4, 11-13, 11-7, 11-5; Sumana Bose lt to M Basak  6-11, 6-11, 8-11; Arindito C bt S Kundu  11-8, 12-10, 11-7)

Standings: South Eastern Railway 1; Eastern Railway 2; Central Railway 3.