CHANDIGARH, June 28 :Defending champions Punjab and hosts Chandigarh men as well as women were maintaining their dominance as they scored easy triumphs over their respective rivals in the super league matches of the 30th Senior National Softball Championship, being conducted by Chandigarh Softball Association at the Panjab University Campus here today.
Kerala men and women also won their respective super league matches.
Strong contenders Punjab recorded a well-deserved 4-1 verdict over Madhya Pradesh in the men’s super league encounter. Deepak, Vishal, Jagjit and Gurpreet carved out Punjab’s well-merited victory by contributing one home run each. Amit was the lone scorer for Madhya Pradesh.
Punjab women virtually toyed with Chattisgarh whom they trounced by 10-0. Manjit, Sukhwinder, Veerpal, Navjot, Archi, Loveneet and Sukhjit were agile and resourceful as they completed one home run each for Punjab.
Chandigarh men excelled against plucky Jammu and Kashmir as the hosts scored a well-earned 5-3 triumph. Chandigarh went on offensive from the start and raced to a 3-0 lead at the end of first innings. However, Jammu and Kashmir put up an improved show and did not allow Chandigarh to complete any home run in the second innings.
The third innings belonged to Jammu and Kashmir. Fighting back with a vengeance, Jammu and Kashmir were on top as they scored three home runs, with star performer Aman getting a brace.
Hitting back in the fourth innings, Chandigarh enhanced their margin by scoring two more home runs. The fifth innings ended in a 0-0 draw and Chandigarh won by 5-3.
Sunder, Ravinder, Rahul, Vishal and Harish completed a home run each for Chandigarh. race.
Chandigarh were too good for Jammu and Kashmir as they raced to an 11-0 verdict in the women’s super league match. Sangeeta, Gurmeet and Sunita completed two home runs each for the winners.
The Kerala women prevailed over Maharashtra by 8-5. Their men defeated Menipur by 8-2. Rashiq scored a brace for Kerala.
Results:
Women: Super League: Chandigarh (Sangeeta, Gurpreet, Sunita 2 each, Sonia, Jyoti, Vandana 1 each) bt Jammu and Kashmir by 11-0.
Madhya Pradesh (Seema, Apeksha, Vidhi 2 each, Priyanka, Rooma, Padika 1 each) bt Himachal Pradesh by 10-0.
Punjab (Manjit, Sukhwinder, Navjot, Veerpal, Arshi, Loveneet and Sukhjit 1 each) bt Chattisgarh by 10-0.
Kerala (Somiya, Dhaniya 2 each, Ramaiha, Gyarti, Anuradha, Daisa, 1 each) bt Maharashtra (Deepali, Swarna, Neelam, Soukia, Preeti 1 each) by 8-5.
Pre-quarter-finals: Himachal Pradesh (Preeti, Sumitra 2 home runs each, Nitesh, Kiran, Ranjana, Pooja, Sonika, Karuna 1 each) bt Andhra Pradesh 12-0.
Men: Super League: Chandigarh (Sunder, Ravinder, Rahul, Vishal, Harish 1 each) bt Jammu and Kashmir (Aman 2) by 5-3.
Punjab (Deepak, Vishal, Jagjit, Gurpreet 1 each) bt Madhya Pradesh (Amit 1) by 4-1.
Kerala (Rashiq 2, Nitin, Rashiq Jr, Kevin, Sumir 1 each) bt Manipur by 8-2.
Pre-quarter-finals: Andhra Pradesh (Srikant 3, Karunkar, Vinod, Narinder, Sunteng, Deepak and Vinay) bt Himachal Pradesh 9-1.