After a disappointing start in the opening game, Leander’s team the Mumbai Leon Army bounced back with a thrilling 46-44 win over a strong Punjab Bulls team on day 2 of the 2nd Kotak Mahindra Bank Tennis Premier League played at Celebration Club here on Friday.
Mumbai Team pose after their 46-44 victory over Punjab Bulls at the 2nd Kotak Mahindra Bank Tennis Premier League played at Celebration Club on Friday.
Punjab made a winning start with Shekhar dominating Sureshkumar defeating him 8-2 in the wheelchair category. The Boys U-14 pair also won their match by a comfortable 3-7 margin to extend the lead to 10 points in 2 games. U-18 girls fought back for Mumbai by winning the tie 6-4. With an 8 point deficit and only 2 matches to go, Mumbai Leon Army was in a spot of bother but National Champion Soujanya Bavisetti played brilliantly against a top player like Pranjala Yadlapalli to race to a dominating 16-2 lead and put her team back in the game at 26-21. Pranjala made tried to stage a comeback scoring 7 back to back points but Soujanya managed to close the tie with a 19-11 win levelling the scores at 30-30 with one match to go. The Boys Doubles tie proved to be the most exciting match of the day with Aryan Goveas and Niki Poonacha up against an experienced pair of Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Manish Sureshkumar. After a cautious start, the Mumbai pair held the lead for the majority of the game at 6-3 and later at 13-10. The Punjab pair tried to push hard but Aryan and Niki held their ground to winning the tie 16-14 and guide their team to a 46-44 victory.
In the first round, Hyderabad Strikers riding on performances from their top players Prerna Bhambri, Mohit Mayur and Prajwal Dev defeated Chennai Stallions by a narrow 47-43 margin. later, Pune Warrior made overcame Delhi Binny’s Brigade 49-41. While Rutuja Bhosale and the pair of Saket Myneni and Nitin won by a close margin, Kaavya Sawhney/ Smriti Bhasin made the difference by winning their U-18 match by a 6 point lead at 8-2.
Results Round 2
Mumbai Leon Army bt Punjab Bulls -46-44 ( Wheelchair: Suresh Kumar lost to Shekar 2-8, BD U-14: Navya Verma/Praswal Tiwari lost to Aayushman Arjeria and Jasmeet Dhuan 3-7; GD U-18: Bela Tamhankar/Reshma Maruri bt Prerna Vichare/Gargi Pawar 6-4; WS: Soujanya Bavisetti bt Pranjala Yadlapalli 19-11; MD : Aryan Goveas/Niki Poonacha bt Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan/ Manish Sureshkumar 16-14)
Results Round 1:
Finecab Hyderabad Strikers bt Chennai Stallions :47-43 ( Wheelchair: Hariappan lost to Anil Almeida 4-6, BD U-14 Dhananjay Atreya / Harsh Fogat lost to Ayush Bhat / Rethin Pranav 2-8; GD U-18: Humera Sheikh / Vanshika Choudhary bt Sanjana Sirimalla / Sarah Dev 6-4;WS: Prerna Bhambri bt Ria Bhatia 17-13; MD; Mohit Mayur / Prajwal D bt Kunal Anand / Vijay P 16-14
Pune Warriors bt Delhi Binny’s Brigade: 49-41 ( Wheelchair: Sada Shivam drew to Bala Chandra 5-5, BD U-14 Bhavya / Manan lost to Arunava Majumdar / Adith Amarnath 4 – 6; GD U-18: Kaavya Sawhney / Smriti Bhasin bt Sanvi / Renee 8-2; WS: Rutuja Bhosale bt Salsa Aher 16-14; MD; Sakett M / Nitin bt Purav Raja / Siddharth 16-14
Punjab Bulls bt Bengaluru Spartans: 57-33 ( Wheelchair: Alexander James lost to Shekar Veraswami 3-7, BD U-14: Aayushman Arjeria and Jasmeet Dhuan lost to Aditya Rathi and Vibhu Chaliagundia 4-6;GD U-18 : Prerna Vichare/Gargi Pawar bt Sandeepti Rao/Bhakti Shah 6-4; WS: Pranjala bt Jennifer Luikham 22-8; MD; Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan/ Manish Sureshkumar bt Vishnu V/Ishaque E 18-12