PSPB favourite at Senior Nationals despite Sharath's absence

The supremacy of the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) will be under no threat whatsoever when they take on the remaining 33 in fray here for the 76th Senior Nationals beginning at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium here from tomorrow.
With a steady supply line and an excellent team ethics, the PSPB have held a sway over the men's Barna Ballack Cup for several years in a row. The firepower in their arsenal is a further confirmation -- national champion Sanil Shetty, G.Sathiyan, Soumyajit Ghosh (he won the Petroleum title last week), Anthony Amal Raj and Harmeet Desai -- of the solidity which most teams can only dream about.

The sore note, however, could be the absence of a long-standing companion in Achanta Sharath Kamal, who has opted out of the championships, a first of its kind many years. He did make a token appearance in the Petroleum event held in New Delhi last week, perhaps forced by his employers.
On the other hand, PSPB women's team has to rely on old warhorses Mouma Das, Poulami Ghatak and K. Shamini, in that order, and the young brigade of Manika Batra and Ankita Das to retain the Jayalakshmi Cup. Though part of the younger lot, national champion Ankita has been as inconsistent as Shamini, who won the Petroleum title. This would put the extra pressure on Manika and even Mouma who, despite being the oldest, is considered dependable.

The suspension of Suthirtha Mukherjee, who won back-to-back titles at Indore and Gandhidham, could be a setback for PSPB who, otherwise, could have pitted a young team keeping the future in mind.
Similarly, the Airports Authority of India (AAI), who qualified for the nationals here, will have to bear the brunt of the ban of some of their senior players, including Sagarika Mukherjee. They will have to make do with the juniors like Mariya Rony and Seraha Jacob, the two promising youngsters from Kerala, to support senior Nikhat Banu in AAI's cause.
This has given ample chance to teams like Maharashtra, Delhi and Tamil Nadu, with steady bunches, making a beeline for the title or at least the runners-up slots.

Another reason for the turnaround could be the North and West Bengals. Caught in the age-fraud controversies, today they are struggling to put together teams of calibre.