Petroleum Sports Promotion Board rallied from being 0-2 down to get the better of Manipur 3-2 in the final to claim the team championship title of the 75th Inter State-Inter Zonal badminton Championship here on Thursday.
Dingku Singh Konthoujam and Priya Devi Konjengbam stunned Manu Attri and Ashwini Ponnappa 20-22, 21-18, 21-15 in the mixed doubles match to give Manipur a perfect start.
Maisnam Meiraba then dished out a gritty show to outwit national champion Sourabh Varma 26-24, 21-14 to put Manipur 2-0 ahead.
However, Assam’s Ashmita Chaliha saw off Maheshwari Devi Kshetrimayum 21-10, 25-23 to reduce the deficit to 1-2, while Manu and Chirag Shetty combined to bring PSPB back in contention with a 21-16, 21-17 win over Manjit Singh Khwairakpam and Dingku Singh Konthoujam in men’s doubles.
In the decider, 2018 Commonwealth Games bronze medallists N Sikki Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa beat Priya Devi Konjengbam and Maheshwari Devi Kshetrimayum 21-19, 21-10 to crush Manipur’s dream.
Manipur, who had claimed bronze in 2018 edition, had produced a spirited show in the tournament as they beat Haryana 3-2 on Wednesday and also prevailed 3-1 over Airport Authority of India to make it to the final.
Second seed PSPB, on the other hand, blanked Uttarakhand 3-0 before beating Karnataka 3-2 to make it to the summit clash.
In the quarter-finals, Karnataka had defeated Maharashra 3-2, while Airport Authority of India had received a bye in the opening round.
The 84th Senior National Badminton Championships will begin on Friday with the likes of HS Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth vying for honours against the young crop including Kiran George and Priyanshu Rajawat.
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