Former National champion Sanil Shetty representing Kool Smashers and Madhurika Patkar playing for MTC Royals, will be the top stars among the leading men and women players respectively, who will be seen in action in the 2nd edition of the iProspect Mumbai Super League (MSL) Table Tennis Championships, which is scheduled to commence at the NSCI from July 7 to 10, 2016.
Sanil Shetty
India No. 7, Sanil, who had bagged the men’s silver medal and India No. 4, Madhurika, who won the women’s crown in the recently concluded 11Even Sports National Ranking (North Zone) Table Tennis Championships in Chandigarh, late last month, will certainly look to maintain their good form and shape the fortunes of their respective teams in the MSL, a franchise-based competition.
Madhurika Patkar
The other notable names among men include Ravindra Kotiyan (Supreme Fighters) Niloy Basak (King Pong), Eric Fernandes (Century Warriors) and Omkar Torgalkar (Ace). The other prominent women players participating include, India No. 6 and former youth girl’s National champion Divya Deshpande (Phantom Stars), Shweta Parte (The Topspinners), Snehora D’Souza (Century Warriors), Charvi Kawle (High Tide) and Ashlesha Trehan (Ace).
Leading junior paddlers would also get an opportunity to showcase their skills and rub shoulders with the senior pros during the four-day tournament. Some of the top juniors to watch out for, are current Sub-Junior Girls’ National champ Manushree Patil (Supreme Fighters), Dyuti Patki (The Topspinners), Diya Chitale (High Tide), Srushti Haleangadi (Blazing Stars) and Aditi Sinha (Phantom Stars) among girls and Mudit Dani (King Pong), Ashwin Subramanian (Phantom Stars) and Shubhum Ambre (Centrury Warriors).
The winners of the iProspect Mumbai Super League will stand to gain Rs 1.5 lakhs, with the runner-up team taking home Rs 1 Lakh and Rs 50,000 each for the two semi-finalists. There will also be individual prizes for the overall best Men’s and Women’s player of the tournament and best player prize for each category.
The 10 franchise-based teams have divided into 2 pools of 5 each and will play the initial round on a league basis. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-final to be played on Sunday morning followed by the final in the evening.
Group A: Century Warriors, The Top Spinners, Ace, MTC Royals, High Tide.
Group B: Kool Smashers, Supreme Fighters, King Pong, Phantom Stars, Blazing Bashers.