The final day of the TSTTA- JVPG District table tennis championship  witnessed some big upsets starting with the Men’s Finals. Actually, Regan Albuquerque  was the favourite to win the men’s title. However, his younger opponent Sharveya Samant had other plans. Sharveya looked in sublime form and gave a tough time to more experienced Regan. Sharveya clinched the Men’s Title in the deciding game, with a score line of 4-3.

The final day also witnessed Double and Triple Crowns. Param Bhiwandkar, Ananya Chade, Dhruv Shah won for themselves double crowns but the real star of the tournament who won her First Triple Crown was Myraa Sangelkar. 

Ananya Chade won her Double Crown with the Girls under 19 and Women’s Title. She defeated Urvi Churi in the under 19 girls and Mukta Dalvi in the women’s category respectively. Surprisingly Urvi Churi got the better of Mukta Dalvi in the girls under 19 category in the semifinals. 

The Winners – From L to R : Param Bhiwandkar , Myraa Sangelkar, Vedika Jaiswal, Vivyan Gada, Ananya Chande, Dhruv Shah & Sharveya Samant with JVPD & TSTTA officials behind them.

It was a roller coaster ride for Niva Chaughule. In the girls under 17 Category she defeated the title favorite Urvi Churi and surprised everyone. Niva played her best performance against Urvi and loooked in control of the match before winning it 3-2. On the other hand Niva Chaughule who was the favorite to win the title against Myraa Sangelkar in the under 17 girls lost to her 2-3. Myraa Sangelkar beat Niva Chaughule in the under 15 girls category too, to win her triple crown. Earlier, she won her under 13 title against Sara Ramiya 3-0.

Param Bhiwandkar won his first title in the under 13 boys category, by defeating Moksh Shahri and went on to beat the top seed player and the favorite Zihan Beddingwala in the under 15 boys category. 

Dhruv Shah won his under 17 title, when stopped the winning run of Akanksh Sahoo with a score line of 3-1. Dhruv Shah was to play Sharveya Samant in the finals of under 19 boys singles; however, Sharveya had to concede the finals, as he was not fit to play and that’s how Dhruv got his double crown. 

Earlier, Sampada Bhiwandkar also conceded her Women’s Semi final match against Mukta Dalvi due to fitness issues. 

Vedika Jaiswal and Vivyan Gada were the title winners in the girls and boys under 11 category, respectively. 

This tournament saw the rise of Akansh Sahoo who gave almost all the players a run for their money. A defensive player who struggles playing in tournament because of space issues, at the JVPG club he looked in super form as he had the perfect setup to go way behind the table and play his defensive best. 

The best part of the tournament was maintaining the time schedule.  On all four days, the playing schedule was well before time and the Match officials and the TSTTA managing committee ensured that there were no delays. 

Overall, the TSTTA DISTRICT TT CHAMPIONSHIP was a grand success with the support of the JVPG Club and their committee members. Special thanks to Sachin D’Souza as a co-ordinator during the matches and also for providing all the details of the mactes played, on all four days.  

The Day three of JVPG Club-TSTTA District ranking Table Tennis tournament saw some interesting matches and few major upsets. Hridaan Vora defeated Ryaan Hooda in the under 17 boys in the first round of the main draw. Hridaan played some aggressive strokes and kept his cool on the table. 

In another match, Yuvraj Yadav who became a hero a day before, by beating Sagar Kasture in the men’s main draw, was thrown out in the under 17 boys second round. Yuvraj was the top seed player in the under 17 boys. Akansh Sahoo defeated Yuvraj 3-1 which was a shocker to the players and audience as well.

Blessed with a good height and a perfect physique, 15 year old Akansh Sahoo looked in sublime touch with his solid defensive game, went on to beat Aarya Panchal in the quarter finals and secured his spot in the semi finals .

In the girls under 19 Singles, Sharvani Loke, Bhoomi Pitale, Mukta Dalvi and Vaishnavi Jaiswal proceeded to the main draw. 

Young Yuvraj Yadav who plays in Boys U-17 category, surprised everyone, at the TSTTA district championship tournament held at JVPG Club. Yuvraj beat one of the favourites from the men’s category, Sagar Kasture 3-0. It seemed Sagar had no answers to Yuvraj’s backhand punches. Yuvraj knocked out Sagar in today’s Men’s quarter finals and this was the biggest upset of the day.  

Yuvraj Yadav

Similarly, Vineet Deepak surprised Shivam Srivastav in the other Quarter finals when he clinched the decider. Vineet was in sublime form and did not give Shivam any easy ball in the rallies. 

Sharveya Samant beat Bhavitavya Shah in straight games in the men’s quarter finals and Regan Albuquerque beat Dhruv Shah in the other two quarter finals. 

In the women’s group league matches, Sharvani Loke, Siya Hingorany, Bhoomi Pitale and Mukta Dalvi progressed to the main Draw. 

The group matches of under 19 and under 17 boys were more of a formality. 

The Osmanabad District Kho-Kho Association under the auspices of  Maharashtra Kho-Kho Association, will be  organizing the Golden Jubilee (50th) State Championship and Selection Trials Kho-Kho Championship for Boys and Girls from October 27 to October 30 in Dharashiv (Osmanabad).

Rajesh Mandal & Rashmi Dalvi Captains of Mumbai Boys and Girls teams

For this state championship and selection trials, the selection committee of the Mumbai Kho-Kho Association, comprising of Shrikant Gaikwad, Parag Ambekar, Nilesh Sawant, and Gurudatt Shinde, has selected the teams. A three-month training camp was conducted for the players, considering the continuous rainfall in Mumbai, with participation from 46 boys and 40 girls, from which the final teams were selected. Rajesh Mandal has been appointed as the captain of the boys’ team, and Rashmi Dalvi as the captain of the girls’ team.  Both the players are from the Om Saishwar Seva Mandal.

The farewell ceremony for both teams took place at the ground of Om Saishwar Seva Mandal, Lalbag. During this event, kits were distributed to the teams. These kits were presented by Lion Adv. Arun Deshmukh, President of the Mumbai Kho-Kho Sanghatana, on behalf of the Lions Club of Dadar Jewels. Present at the event were Vice President Bal Toraskar, Chairman Sudhakar Raul, Secretary Surendra Vishwakarma, Jt. Secretary Shrikant Gaikwad, Chandrakant Taral, Treasurer Dalesh Desai, Nilesh Sawant, Gurudatt Shinde, Tushar Chikhale, and others from the Kho-Kho family. Additionally, the treasurer of Om Saishwar Seva Mandal, Suresh Khandagale, along with Jt. Treasurer Nandini Dhumal, Rajesh More, Mrs. Amita Gaikwad, Kavita Parab, Varsha More, Vina Kadam, and Bhupesh Gaikwad were also present.

Boys’ Team: Rajesh Mandal (Captain), Sujal Shintre, Om Watane, Sai Tembulkar (all from Om Saishwar Seva Mandal), Subodh Patil (Vidyrthi Kreeda Kendra), Rohan Khambe (Saraswati Sports Club), Devarsh Pangale, Anish Shirodkar (all from Shri Samarth Vyayam Mandir), Vighnesh Kore (Amar Hind Mandal), Shreyas Saundalkar, Sai Gurav (all from Om Samarth Bharat Vyayam Mandir), Pranav Kumbhar, Nimesh Chaugule, Rahul Nevarekar, Vedant Nagwekar (all from Vaibhav Sports Club). Coach: Nilesh Sawant, Team Manager: Gurudatt Shinde

Girls’ Team: Harshala Sakpal, Janhavi Londhe, Riya Singh (all from Saraswati Sports Club), Rashmi Dalvi (Captain), Kadambari Teravankar, Kajal More, Nirmiti Parab (all from  Om Saishwar Seva Mandal), Muskan Sheikh, Sharvi Nade, Arushi Gupta (all from Shivneri Seva Mandal), Saloni Sawant, Avantika Ambolkar (all from Vaibhav Sports Club), Rudra Natekar (Amar Hind Mandal), Shrushti Pashte (Om Samarth Bharat Vyayam Mandir), Tanvi More (Shri Samarth Vyayam Mandir). Coach: Shrikant Gaikwad, Team Manager: Varsha More.

It seems that the game of Table Tennis has become very popular in Mumbai suburbs. In the past few months , we have seen many TT tournaments conducted either by TSTTA for all categories and for Masters conducted by IMPTTA. However, last weekend , we witnessed a unique type of Premier TT league hosted by MCF , Borivali for all age groups together. There were six teams from Kandivali and Borivali areas, with participation of players from 9 years to 70+ divided into 7 levels according to their performance.

This two day tournament was first played on a league basis with 3 teams in each group and then on knock out basis in the semi finals. Tejas Naik’s team Sunstar were declared the winners, after his team beat Team J D Marvels 6-4 in a well contested finals. Captain and team co-owner Tejas Naik won all his four matches opposite Level 1 players from other teams. Another player in Level 7 , who remained unbeaten was 12 year old Moksh Mehta from J D Marvels, who only dropped a game to 9 year old Krishiv Panchal.  

In the finals, Tejas won his first match against Pramod Desai in straight games. He was well supported by Amit Phadke who beat Santosh Jain 2-1. Rajesh Shah besides winning his Singles against Nitish Kumar 2-1, also won the crucial doubles, partnering Tejas Naik; while Sunstar team’s crucial match was won very narrowly by Dominic D’Silva against 70 year old ranked Masters’ player Antonio Gomes.

Hitesh Jogi, the owner of J D Marvels exhibited a wonderful performance while playing for his team in his Level- 6 match; as he beat state ranked women’s veteran player Rajeshwari Mehtre in straight games. Through his strategic play Hitesh gave a good demonstration on ‘how to play against Pimpled rubbers on both sides’. Out of four matches played by him in Level -6, he only lost one match to Siddhi Kolekar a young stylish attacking player from MCF club.  

In the semi finals J D Marvels beat Vora Fighters, while Sunstar defeted Roaring Panthers. Team Magzmumbai, which earlier played in the league stage in Group B , drew their match 5-5 with ultimate winners- Team Sunstar and lost narrowly 4-6 to Vora Fighters in the deciding match, thus losing their place in semi finals. Another team which also lost the place in semis from Group A was Team Viku.    

Refreshment partners Max Protein offered refreshment packs to every participant before the start of their matches and the Winners were presented with Gift hampers sponsored by them. Indeed, a perfect timely gift for sportspersons from Max Protein.

The Maharashtra Kho-Kho Association has announced the organization of the Golden Jubilee (50th) Junior Kho-Kho State Championship and Selection Trials for the year 2024-25. This event will be held under the auspices of the Osmanabad District Kho-Kho Association in Dharashiv (Osmanabad), as stated by the Secretary of the State Association, Dr. Chandrajit Jadhav. The teams selected from this competition will represent Maharashtra at the 43rd Junior National kho-kho Championship to be held in Uttar Pradesh.

L to R : President Mr. Sanjivraje Naik Nimbalkar, Secretary Dr.Chandrajeet Jadhav, Treasurer Adv. Govind Sharma & Chairman Mr. Sachin Godbole

The Golden Jubilee State kho-kho Championship and Selection Trials will take place at the ground near Niraj Gas Agencies in the District Education and Training Institute, Dharashiv (Osmanabad) from October 27^th to 30^th.

Teams of junior under the age of 18, born on or after November 21, 2006, from 24 districts will participate in this competition. The inauguration ceremony of the competition will take place on October 27 at 5:30 PM, as announced by the President of the Maharashtra Kho-Kho Association, Sanjeevraje Naik-Nimbalkar, Secretary Dr. Chandrajit Jadhav, Chairman Sachin Godbole, and Treasurer Adv. Govind Sharma. All teams have been requested to be present on time.

Meanwhile, under the guidance of the State Kho-Kho Association’s General Secretary Dr. Chandrajit Jadhav, preparations for the competition are in full swing, with the arrangements for grounds and galleries underway.

The group divisions for this competition are as follows:

Boys’ Group: Group A: Solapur, Palghar, Jalna; Group B: Pune, Parbhani, Beed; Group C: Dharashiv, Raigad, Sindhudurg; Group D: Sangli, Satara, Jalgaon; Group E: Nashik, Nandurbar, Hingoli; Group F: Mumbai, Ratnagiri, Latur; Group G: Thane, Dhule, Hingoli, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar; Group H: Mumbai Suburban, Ahmednagar, Nanded.

Girls’ Group:Group A: Dharashiv, Satara, Parbhani; Group B: Nashik, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Nandurbar; Group C: Sangli, Dhule, Sindhudurg; Group D: Thane, Jalna, Hingoli; Group E: Mumbai Suburban, Latur, Raigad; Group F: Pune, Palghar, Jalgaon; Group G: Solapur, Ahmednagar, Beed; Group H: Ratnagiri, Mumbai, Nanded.