Manipur win runners up title in Inter State-Inter Zonal Badminton C'ship

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Feb 23 : Manipur  have won the runners' up title in the 75th  Inter State-Inter Zonal Badminton Championship  2022-2023 which began on February 22 last at Pune.
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.
With input from PTI