The curtains came down on the glittering ‘Pro Badminton League’; the first of its kind League Team Championship to be held in Goa on a professional basis.
In the summit clash, the ‘Models Eagles’ shuttlers conquered PBC Gladiators to win the inaugural Championship organized by Panjim Badminton Club in association with the Sports Authority of Goa. In the thrilling finals played at the Indoor Stadium, Campal Panaji, Models Eagles who were unbeaten in the full Tournament continued their formidable streak to win the trophy with a commanding 3-2 victory. The top ranked mixed doubles pairing of Pankaj Naik and Sonali Gaokar set the pace for the Gladiators with a straight sets 21-11, 21-17 win over Darwin Barreto and Vaibhavi Kalangutkar but Sunny Sawant, the young talented Eagles Team Captain, restored parity for his Team. Partnering Sumukh Sawant, the duo defeated Aniket Shenoy and Krishnaraj Gawas 28-26, 24-22 to level the scores at 1-1. Ex State Champion Pankaj Naik partnering Krushnan Naik restored the lead for the Gladiators when they defeated Parag Chauhan and Darwin Barreto 21-15, 17-21, 21-13 in the Mens Doubles encounter. Sunny who has been in ominous form throughout this Championship, registered a 21-19, 21-18 win over a gritty Manoj Humrasker in the Men’s Singles match, to level the scores at 2-2. The final match was a confrontation of two of the best Veterans (45+) pairs in Goa; number one duo T.S. Sawant/P.K. Gupta versus the old warhorses Narahar Thakur/Ajay Gupta. Thakur/ Gupta representing the Eagles Team prevailed over their traditional foes, winning the decisive game 21-19, 17-21, 21-15 to seal the victory and clinch the Pro Badminton League Championship for Models Eagles. Chief Guest Shri Digamber Kamat and Guest of Honour Shri Rasik Paiginkar, former State Badminton Champion, distributed the prizes in the presence of League Chairman Custodio Araujo, GBA President Richard Vaz, GBA Secretary Narahar Thakur and other dignitaries. Models Eagles were awarded a glittering Trophy and a Cash Prize of Rs 20,000/-. A Rolling Trophy was also awarded to the Champions by the GBA. The Runners –up trophy along with a Cash prize of Rs 15,000/- was awarded to PBC Gladiators while the two semi-finalists Fomento Flamingos and Fallary Warriors were awarded third place trophies, along with a Cash prize of Rs 7500/- each. Fallary Warriors and Blackjag Panjim Challengers won the trophies for the ‘Best Cheerleading Teams’. Promising Player prizes were awarded to Anushka Kuvelkar, Pranjal Chimulkar, Yatish Devidas, Chinmay Kamat, Astha Gupta, Anura Prabhudesai and Shashank Desai. All Elite Players received participation money. Earlier, Club president Sarfaraz Sheikh welcomed the gathering while Secretary Sandeep Heble later proposed the Vote of Thanks. The victorious Models Eagles Team: http://www.flickr.com/photos/35353...@n07/4123285943/ yours sincerely Sandeep Heble Secretary, PBC
