Indore, December 26: The Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) men produced a statement performance to settle old scores, emphatically avenging last edition’s defeat to the Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) with a flawless 3–0 victory to lift the men’s team title at the AAI 52nd Institutional Table Tennis Championships.

The triumph was all the more special as it capped a perfect afternoon at the Abhay Prashal, where PSPB’s women matched the men shot for shot, outclassing the Reserve Bank of India by an identical margin in the final to seal a memorable golden double.

From redemption to domination, PSPB left no doubt about their supremacy, scripting a finale that reflected depth, experience, and championship temperament across both teams. PSPB set the tone early and never loosened their grip, delivering a performance that underlined why they finished the championship as undisputed double champions.

The intent was unmistakable from the outset as Harmeet Desai dismantled Railways’ top man Akash Pal in straight games, handing PSPB a brisk 1–0 lead. It was a surprisingly one-sided affair—an off-colour Akash struggled to find his range, repeatedly pushing the ball long or into the net, while Harmeet’s veteran guile did the rest. Calm, clinical, and ruthless, Harmeet barely broke stride as he overwhelmed his opponent with ease.

The contest briefly promised a twist when Jeet Chandra pushed world No. 35 Manav Thakkar to the brink. Jeet snatched the first two games, both at deuce, forcing Manav into a stern examination. But champions respond when it matters. Manav recalibrated, tightened his service patterns, varied his placement, and embraced longer rallies. The third game became the turning point. Suddenly, Jeet found himself chasing shadows, and Manav surged ahead with authority, closing out the next two games to move PSPB decisively closer to the podium.

With momentum firmly on their side, PSPB still needed one final push, and it came through the experience of G. Sathiyan. Coming into the final low on confidence after a first-round setback earlier in the tournament, Sathiyan faced Ronit Bhanja with both pressure and pride at stake. After conceding a deuce game, he steadied himself, leaned into his vast experience, and found rhythm. His backhand came alive in a series of searing rallies, repeatedly breaking Ronit’s resistance. Sathiyan sealed the fourth game convincingly and raced through the decider, exhaling deeply as he crossed the line.

Despite resting their marquee names, Yashaswini Ghorpade and Reeth Rishaya, PSPB once again showcased the depth and maturity of their system as a spirited young trio of Taneesha Kotecha, Swastika Ghosh, and Syndrela Das delivered a decisive blow to RBI’s challenge in the women’s team final of the Championships. Retaining the crown with authority, PSPB reaffirmed its supremacy in the season’s second-highest ranking points event.

For RBI, all roads inevitably led to Diya Chitale, and the weight of expectation was evident from the outset. Tasked with setting the tone, Diya surged ahead with a 2–1 lead against the promising Taneesha, only to find the momentum slipping away under sustained, calculated pressure. A side strain did little to help her cause, but it was a missed opportunity to close out the opening rubber that proved decisive. Allowing the fourth game to drift to deuce opened the door, and Taneesha walked through it with composure. In a fluctuating fifth game, she played her cards close, edging home by the narrowest of margins to hand her team a crucial psychological advantage.

The second tie followed a similarly dramatic arc. Riding on confidence from her previous semifinal outing last night, Nikhat Banu stunned Swastika by racing to a 2–0 lead, briefly raising hopes of a comeback for RBI. But just when parity seemed within reach, Swastika shook off an uncharacteristically tentative start. Dialing up her trademark aggression, she flipped the script completely, catching Nikhat off guard and storming through the next three games with authority to extend PSPB’s lead.

Any lingering suspense was efficiently extinguished in the third rubber. PSPB’s youngest squad member, Syndrela Das, built on the platform laid by her teammates, using angles and width intelligently to unsettle Priyadarsini. Though she briefly ceded ground in the second game, Syndrela remained unwavering in intent, closing out the contest by claiming the third and fourth games to seal the title as calmly as possible.

For RBI, the result underscored a recurring concern—flashes of resistance anchored almost entirely around a single pillar, but not enough cohesion elsewhere to assemble a winning combination. For PSPB, it was another emphatic statement: dominance built not on individual dependency, but on collective strength and composure under pressure.

Now the focus shifts to the singles and the doubles.

Results: (Team):

Men: Final: PSPB bt RSPB 3-0 (Harmeet Desai bt Akash Pal 11-5, 11-6, 11-5; Manav Thakkar bt Jeet Chandra 10-12, 12-14, 11-7, 11-2, 11-6; G. Sathiyan bt Ronit Bhanja 11-7, 6-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-6).

Women: Final: PSPB bt RBI 3-0 (Taneesha Kotecha bt Diya Chitale 11-6, 9-11, 3-11, 12-10, 11-9; Swastika Ghosh bt Nikhat Banu 4-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-3; Syndrela Das bt Priyadarsini Das 11-5, 7-11, 11-9, 11-5).