IOC shuttlers clinch PSPB honours

IOCL won the men team championships in the 37th Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) Inter-Unit badminton tournament organised by GAIL (India) Limited at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy here on Wednesday.

In the final, IOCL beat last year runner-up BPCL 3-0. K Srikanth lost the first game to a spirited Aditya Joshi 17-21. However, he got the measure of Aditya and worked the court well to win the next two games 22-20, 21-16 to clinch the first game.

Ajay Jayaram beat RMV Gurusai Dutt 21-12, 20-22, 25-23 to give team 2-0 lead. Srikanth and Manu Attri lated gamed up to down Harsheel Dani and Aditya Joshi 22-20, 21-13 to clinch the title.

Meanwhile, defending champion ONGC swamped HPCL 3-0 to settle for the third place. Results: Final: IOCL bt BPCL 3-0 (K Srikanth bt Aditya Joshi 17-21, 22-20, 21-16; Ajay Jayaram bt RMV Guru Sai Dutt 21-12, 20-22, 25-23; K Srikanth/ Manu Attri bt Harsheel Dani/ Aditya Joshi 22-20, 21-13);

Third place: ONGC bt HPCL 3-0 (Sourabh Verma bt Laa Talar 21-15, 21-13; B Sai Praneeth bt Bodhit Joshi 15-21, 21-15, 21-19; Rupesh Kumar/V Diju bt C Rahul Yadav/Laa Talar 18-21, 21-16, 21-12.