Every year about five state ranking Veterans TT events are held in Maharashtra including the state championship. Sometimes a new district place or a new club adds to the list but not much change is noticed in the format of the tournament to attract more players. However, this new season saw a new venue for the First State Ranking Veterans’ TT Tournament , in the form of Olympic Sports Complex at Palava housed in the growing suburbs of Mumbai off. Dombivali.
Prize winners pose with team of organisers
Though this was their first big tournament, the organizers with their team led by Dr. Sudhakar Babras and Abhishek Jain saw to it that this weekend event achieved a grand success . Elaborate arrangements were made at the venue to serve free cold filtered drinking water besides subsidized food and refreshments to the participants. Right from 40+ to 81 years there were 500 + participants from all over Maharashtra. The team event, which is usually played for 40+ was this time divided into 40+ Smart group and 60+ Clever Group and this invited a very good response especially from senior players. The use of new technology by the organisers also made a big difference.
Prabodhankar Thackeray Kreeda Sankul team Percy, Yogesh & Dinkar( Pappu) with their Men’s 60+ trophy
Besides team individual events in different age groups in men and women were also played on both the days attracting a record number of entries. Prizes worth Rs. One Lakh 25 thousand besides medals and Gifts/ Gift vouchers were presented to the winners. This was not enough , as the organizers also announced special prizes for the best player in this tournament male ( Pankaj Kadoo) and female( Mythili Sodhi) , most stylish player ( Krushal Deshpande),Best dressed male( Jitu Mavani), best dressed female( Shravani Dhapre) , best article/ poem on TT ( Nitish Dhakappa) & best doubles pair ( Upendra Mulye & kedar Moghe) . And, this made the participants feel something special during this weekend meet.
Anil Rasam ( Left) winner in Men’s 60+ receiving his trophy
Solapur team Manish,Rohit,Dr.Nitin receiving Men’s 40+ trophy from mr. R.C.Shah , Sr. Govt. Officer and TT player
With the successful conduct of this tournament, the organisers have not only displayed a good team work but have also set an example of best administration. Instead of inviting special guests, the organizers asked their own active members to distribute the prizes. Only exception was Mr. R.C. Shah Sr. Government Officer and an active TT player, who was present on the occasion. Mr. R.C. Shah was also among those Veteran players who participated in World Veterans TT Championship and were felicitated on this occasion.
The overall competition was very good, but absence of few top players like Sunil Babras, Mangal Saraf and Prakash kelkar was felt, who could not make it for this tournament. However, Pankaj Kadoo who impressed the spectators with his superb attacking game in the team as well as individual event, lost very narrowly to Upendra Mulye , whom he had beaten in the team event. Another player who impressed the most was Anil Rasam in Men’s 60+ age group. Anil who made his entry into 60+ group this year went on to win the Men’s 60+ title beating favourite Dinkar Selarka 3-1 in the finals.
Upendra Mulye winner of Men’s 40+
The best match in this tournament was between Dr. Nitin Toshniwal and Navin Salian in the finals of Men’s 50+ group. At the set score 2-2 , Dr. Toshniwal took early lead of 5-2 when the players changed their sides and we noticed a quick recovery from Navin who led 9-7 towards the concluding stage. However in these tense moments he served out only to lose his concentration and the match to his super cool opponent. In another well contested finals, Yogesh Desai beat former international and current national 65+ champion Suhas Kulkarni 3-1 to lift the men’s 65+ title.
The large number of spectators from Palava city also witnessed a good fight between a chief Radiologist from Sion Hospital Dr. Anagha Joshi and Assistant Commissioner of Excise Ms. Neeta Kulkarni in the women’s 50+ finals . The match which was stretched to five games was finally won by Dr. Anagha Joshi.
Women medal winners pose together
In the women’s 65+ group, Maria D’sa won her maiden title , when she beat top seed and seasoned TT player Preeti Pardeshi in five well contested games. Maria, who is wife of former Badminton International Leroy D’sa is also a good badminton player and has participated in World badminton Championships. This was her only second veterans tournament in TT, as only few months ago she had participated in Jolly Gymkhana Ghatkoper State ranking tournament and had lost to Preeti in the finals.
Maria D’sa won her maiden TT title in Women’s 65 + group.
PTKS & Solapur grab team titles
In the team event of men’s 40+ Smart Group , Solapur team led by Dr. Nitin Toshniwal along with Manish Rawat, Rohit Choudhari & Vivek Alavni emerged champs when they defeated Pune team 3-1, while in the Men’s 60+ Clever Group, Prabodhankar Thackeray Kreeda Sankul ( PTKS) represented by Yogesh Desai , Dinkar (Pappu) Selarka and Percy Mehta scored a 3-1 well deserved victory over PJ Hindu Gymkhana in the finals . Dinkar Selarka was the man of the match, as he won both his singles defeating former international Suhas Kulkarni and his brother Jayant Kulkarni. Then combining with Yogesh Desai he also won the crucial doubles match, to win the trophy for his team.
The other individual final results are :
Men’s 40+ Semi Finals
Final Upendra Mulye(PNA) [Seed – 13] Bt Manish Rawat(SOL) [Seed – 2] 11/9,8/11,11/8,11/8
Men’s 50+
Final Dr.Nitin Toshniwal ( Solapur) Bt Navin Salian ( MSD) 3-2
Men’s 60+
Final Anil Rasam(MSD) Bt Dinkar Selarka(MCD) [Seed – 3] 11/6,11/6,8/11,11/4
Men’s 65+
Final : Yogesh Desai(MSD) [Seed – 6] Bt Suhas Kulkarni(MCD) [Seed – 1] 12/10,6/11,11/8,11/8
Men’s 70+
Final Pinakin Sampat(MSD) [Seed – 1] Bt Dilip Kudtarkar(PNA) 11/3,11/6,12/10
Men’s 75+
Final A S Shaikh(MCD) Bt Satish Shirisath(NSK) [Seed – 2] 13/11,11/7,14/16,11/0
Women’s 40+
Final Sushma Mogare(THN) [Seed – 2] Bt Shruti Kanade-Joshi(THN) [Seed – 1] 11/7,11/1,6/11,8/11,11/5
Women’s 50+ Final
Anagha Joshi(MSD) [Seed – 1] Bt Neeta Kulkarni(MSD) [Seed – 2] 9/11,11/6,11/6,13/15,11/6
Women’s 60+ Final
Rajeshwari Mehtre bt Ujwala Marathe ( Scores not available)
Women’s 65+ Final
Final Maria D’sa(MCD) Bt Preeti Pardeshi(MSD) [Seed – 1] 14/12,9/11,11/6,9/11,11/9