Air India, Andhra Pradesh lift inter-state team titles

The victorious Air India boys team.
Photo credit Manoj Ramchandran

Star studded Air India and Andhra Pradesh registered contrasting victories to lift the boy's and girl's team titles respectively in the 38th Inter State - Inter Zonal Badminton Championships-2013 at Chandigarh on Saturday.
While Air India had to come from behind to beat Kerala 2-1 to lift the Narang Cup, Andhra Pradesh blanked Air India girls 2-0 to carve their name on the Shafi Qureshi Cup.
In the boy's final, Air India were dealt an early blow when Sushant Chippalkati Junior International champion Aditya Joshi was upset by Arun George in a three game thriller 21-23, 21-15, 21-11.
But Shlok Ramchandran and Sanyam Shukla restored parity with a 21-10, 21-17 win over Arun and Shyamprasad before junior national champion Harsheel Dani clinched the tie by beating Shyamprasad 21-12, 21-14.
In the girl's final, the quality of G Ruthvika Shivani and Rituparna Das proved too much to handle for the Air India girls.

Results (Finals):

Narang Cup for boys: Air India bt Kerala 2-1 (Aditya Joshi lost to Arun George 21-23, 21-15, 21-11; Shlok Ramchandran/Sanyam Shukla bt Shyamprasad/Arun George 21-10, 21-17; Harsheel Dani bt Shyamprasad 21-12, 21-14)
Shafi Qureshi Cup for girls: Andhra Pradesh bt Air India 2-0 (Ruthvika Shivani bt Reshma Karthik 21-9, 21-15; J Meghana/Rituparna Das bt Reshma Karthik/V Harika 21-7, 21-14