Visakhapatnam: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) huffed and puffed their way into the quarterfinals of the AAI-50th Institutional Championships at the Swarna Bharati Indoor Stadium today.
AAI beat Indian Audit and Accounts 3-1 in the second-round match to log maximum points from two outings. From the form their players displayed on the first day of the team championships, it is evident that AAI should keep their slate clean and win their third round against Defence Accounts Sports Control Board tomorrow morning to confirm their status.
Swastika Ghosh played the pivot for AAI and won both her singles against Tamanna Saini (11-8, 11-4, 11-8) and Chipia Frenaz to arrest the possibility of Indian Audit taking the hosts to the fifth rubber. Chipia fought well and restored parity in the fourth game. But Swastika kept her team’s interest in the decider as the AAI girl won 15-13, 7-11, 14-12, 10-12, 11-8. Earlier, Chipia defeated Radhapriya Goel 10-13, 11-8, 11-3, 11-5 to stretch AAI.
However, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed no sign of rust to take the top place in Group A with two wins. They accounted for the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and Central Revenue Sports Board (CRSB) with an identical margin of 3-0. The Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) followed suit in Group B and handed out LIC of India and Canara Bank 3-0 defeats to qualify for the second stage of the draw.
The Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) did not require the services of their star player, Manika Batra, against Employees State Insurance Corporation or Bank of Baroda Sports Control Board. However, Manika should enter the fray when the quarterfinals begin tomorrow.
All these triumphs of top teams in each group proved beyond doubt their capabilities in any given situation. On the other hand, the third round of matches tomorrow will decide who among the remaining teams grabs the second spot in their respective groups to join the quarterfinalists.
National champion RBI led the charge and defeated Selena Deepthi of CRSB 11-8, 11-9, 12-10 to put their team 1-0 up. Ayhika downed Garima Goel 11-4, 11-5, 11-4 before Diya Chitale closed down with an 11-5, 11-6, 11-6 win over Vidya Narasimhan in their second outing.
RSPB’s Poymantee Baisya had an easy 3-0 win over Mariya Roy, but Kushi Viswanath managed to take a game off Sutirtha Mukherjee in her 1-3 loss. However, it was a struggle for Moumita Datta as Anannya Basak put up a brave front before going down 14-12, 2-11, 11-7, 8-11, 6-11.
In the men’s team events, PSPB, RSPB, RBI, and AAI had one win each in their groups and kept their hopes alive. The teams will play another round tonight before cementing their place in the quarterfinals, while the last-round matches tomorrow will decide the fate of other teams as one of them will join the group leaders tonight.
