Nagpur: Japan Open Superseries semi-finalists Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy were in top form as the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board beat Madhya Pradesh 3-0 in a best-of-five encounter to win the inter-state mixed-team badminton championships on Friday.
Chopra and Reddy were ruthless as they beat MP’s Piyush Bobade and Shriyanshi Pardeshi 21-11, 21-12 to give PSPB a 1-0 lead.
Next up was Singapore Superseries champion B Sai Praneeth, who had been stretched to three games in the quarter-finals by 15-year-old Sai Charan Koya, against MP’s Shubham Prajapati.
Sai Praneeth looked in second gear throughout the match and won the first game 21-15. Prajapati, who had played four matches on Thursday in the quarters and semis, was understandably below par, but put up a better fight in the second game. However, Sai Praneeth held on to win it 21-18 and give PSPB a 2-0 lead.
It was then left to Pardeshi to keep MP in the tie as she took on Ruthvika Shivani Gadde in the women’s singles match. Playing her fifth match in two days, it was amazing the former was still standing on her feet by the end of it. Gadde won the first game rather easily 21-11, with Pardeshi winning a couple of good points but too many unforced errors lett her down.
Incredibly, Pardeshi found some energy in her reserves to take the second game 21-19 and force a decider. Both players went neck and neck in the third game, as Gadde took a slender 11-10 lead into the break. However, Pardeshi fell apart in the second half but for a mini fightback towards the end, as Gadde sealed the tie with a 21-18.