PSCB, reigning champions in both the men's and women's, have been given the pride of place in the team event draw which were held here on Tuesday for the 28th All India Institutional Table Tennis Championships, scheduled to be held at the Community Hall, Petro Chemicals Township, Vadodara (Gujarat), from August 1 to 7.

The 15 teams in the men's section have been divided into four groups, with group B having only three teams. The star-studded PSCB, to be represented by three-time National champion Chetan P Baboor, Arup Basak, S Raman, S Sriram and S Ramaswamy, should have an easypassage into the knockout quarter-finals.

Arjun Dutta of PSCB is reported to be down with jaundice and hence will not make it to the team. Two top teams from each group will qualify for the knockout stage. PSCB men's triumph in the championships can easily be predicted even before the first service in the competition.

The same, however, cannot be said in the women's category where PSCB (MS Mythili, B Bhuvaneswari, Kanchan Basak and Niyati Shah) face stiff resistance from the Railways pair of Anindita Chakraborty and Mantu Ghosh.In the women's event, there are only seven teams which have been divided into two groups, with PSCB and the Railways heading the two groups.

Team events will be conducted on the first three days (August 1-3) and the individual events on the next four days.

Team Championship

Men:

Group A: Petroleum Sports Control Board, Indian Bank, Union Bank of India, Postal.

Group B: Railway Sports Control Board, State Bank of India, Telecom.

Group C: Life InsuranceCorporation, All India Electricity Control Sports Board, State Bank of Indore, Central Civil Services Cultural and Sports Board.

Group D: Banks Sports Board, Food Corporation of India, Major Ports Sports Control Board, Steel Plant.

Women:

Group A: Petroleum Sports Control Board, Union Bank of India, Life Insurance Corporation.

Group B: Railway Sports Control Board, Banks Sports Board, Postal, Telecom.