Former national level Table Tennis player. Freelance Writer in Fitness & healthcare. Sports Commentator & Film Critic.
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Renowned TT player and well known Physiotherapist from South Mumbai, Dr. Sadiya Vanjara was felicitated recently by Hon. Member of Parliament Ms. Varsha Gaikwad recently, for her exemplary work in the field of Pysiotherapy, Animal Welfare and game of Table Tennis.
Dr. Sadiya Vanjara being felicitated by Hon.M.P. Ms. Varsha Gaikwad
With overall experience of 25 years in Physiotherapy, Dr. Sadiya is also known to have helped needy and poor with her free treatment. She has been taking very good care of deserted cats and has adopted a dozen of them around her house. She has also won many medals and prizes in Masters’ Table Tennis championships at the state, national and international level.
A renowned Hindustani classical vocalist and a devotional singer that she is; Bhagyashree Deshpande belongs to Mewati Gharana. She was born in a well known classical family of ‘Ambejogai’. Bhagyashree received early training from her parents and. thereafter took her Natya Sangeet’s training from well known veteran Singer Smt. Jaymala Shiledar. Bhagyashree also took special guidance from Pandit Ajay Pohankar and Pandit Suresh Wadkar.
Bhagyashree Deshpande during her classical music performance
Magzmumbai met this dedicated classical singer at a musical event ‘Sur Taal’ at Borivali, Mumbai, where she was to perform along with other classical singers. Bhagyashree is now training others in classical music and hence spoke about her expectations from her students . Having herself worked very hard to reach this level, she expects her students to do well too; but, for that “They need to do Riyaz daily for six hours, if they want to make a career seriously in classical music,” she said.
When asked, whether this daily Riyaz is to be done at a stretch by the students , she said, “Not necessary, they can have breaks or can do the same at their convenience.Only time they should avoid Riyaz, is half an hour after having meals.” Bhagyashree is not particular about what her students should eat. For her, their regular Riyaz ( practice) is more important. Talking about shifting from hot temperature to colder temperature during practice or programme, she said, “To remain in an air conditioned room throughout the programme or rehearsal, does not affect the voice, but if you are frequently changing from hot to colder or vice versa, it may affect.”
At present, the age group of her students range from 6 years to 72 years, which clearly indicates that age is not important for learning this art. Bhagyashree feels that the right age to start is at the age of 5 years, when the child has the ability to grasp the skills quickly. When asked whether there is change observed in voice in case of little children, after attaining teenage, she said that it does affect to some extent, in case of boys, but with girls, no such change is noticed.
Whatever Bhagyashree has achieved from her Gurus, to reach this level, she is giving it back to the society, by training others. Bhagyashree does give enough scope to her students to perform in musical events, after they become well versed with this art. Her wish is to popularise Hindustani Classical music in different countries. This is possible,, if our Non resident Indians come forford from their respective countries to host her events. If this happens, Bhagyashree will be more than happy to perform at such places.
Yesterday evening was Champions’ Trophy Cricket finals. So, many scheduled events were postponed. But, for Team Bhagyashree Deshpande’s Swarmanthan group, it did not matter. Their classical music shows which are held from time to time, have their own dedicated audience. Their admirers don’t bother about any other major events clashing dates with their scheduled events. They make it a point to attend these musical shows, coming from far off places.
Bhagyashree Deshpande getting ready for her presentation
No wonder, Team Bhagyashree Deshpande’s ‘SUR TAAL’ show, also saw a full house yesterday evening at the Atal Smruti Udyan, Borivali. The entire team of Bhagyashree comprising of herself along with Singers Aboli Gadre Ranade, Dr. Gayatri Athalye, Kathak performer Shruti Nandoskar, Tabla artistes Atharva Karlekar , Soham Parale, Harmonium artistes Bhakti Bramhe Ghaisas, Siddharth Mesta , Tanpura artistes Shreya & Payal , Programme anchor Santosh Jadhav and the technical sound experts.
Dr. Gayatri & Aboli together on stage
The event began with opening presentation of classical singing by Aboli Gadre Ranade, who clearly indicated that they had a good team work and lot more was to come. After her presentation anchor Santosh Jadhav compared her opening performance with that of Rohit Sharma’s sixer on the first ball. Then it was the turn of Dr. Gayatri Athalye , a PhD in fine arts followed by wonderful Kathak performance by Shruti Nandoskar.
The captivated audience during the event
The programme concluded in the Golden voice of Bhagyashree Deshpande. The recipient of some major awards like Savitribai Phule National Award and Bala Saraswati Award by Karnataka State, she captivated the dedicated audience, who were eagerly waiting for presentation. There is lot to learn from this talented singer, especially the ease with which she delivers her voice and her dedication and involvement in this art. She certainly inspires other budding singers.
‘Thunderbolts XI’ gave a big shock to favourites ‘Giant Killers’ in the finals of the MCF Club organised Senior Citizens Premier League Cricket tournament, played on Sunday afternoon, at the MCF Jogger’s Park, Borivali.
Earlier, in the morning, while playing the Qualifier –I ‘Giant Killers’ had beaten Thunderbolts team by 6 runs, with Satish Amre 18 and Mukesh Mule scoring 29 runs. Satish Amre who also took 2 wikets of Thunderbolts was declared Man of this match. Dilip Karekar had also supported him well, by taking two more wickets. For Thunderbolts, Norie D’souza scored 23 runs in 14 balls while Sunil Mayekar scored 19 in 9 balls.
Bahubali Sanjay Shukla – best batsman of the series, scored total 160 runs and hit maximum sixes
In the 2nd match of Eliminator semi final played between ‘Dadaji Daring XI’ and ‘RG’s The Team’, Dadaji’s XI scored 86 runs with the help of Sanjay Shukla’s captivating 59 runs from 25 balls, with 5 fours and four sixes. Sanjay further went on to capture four wickets of the rival team including the hat-trick in the very first over of the innings, bowled by him. In reply, ‘RG’s The Team’ scored 84 runs , 2 runs short of their target. Satendra Waghmare with 23 and Shashank Gavkar with 21 tried their best for ‘RG’s team’.
Suresh Salvi- Man of the match in finals
In the second back to back eliminator, ‘Dadaji Daring ‘ team however lost to ‘Thunderbolts’. Subhash Patel with 16 runs from 12 balls and Skipper Uday Naik with 34 from 11 balls managed to reach the target for Thunderbolts in just 3.2 overs.
Guest of honour Bhupendra Keny presenting Man of the Series award to Uday Naik (Thunderbolts). Jigar Shah making the announcement and Jitendra Roy sitting on the left side.
In the finals,’Thunderbolts’ to avenge their previous defeat in the 1st qualifier against Giant Killers earlier in the morning, came all prepared with their strategy. Uday Naik ( 1 for 12) and Girish Amin ( 2 for 10) restricted ‘Giant Killers’ batsmen to 61 runs in 8 overs. For Giant Killers, Naresh Netravalkar , Mukesh Mude & Satish Amre contributed in double figures. Chasing this easily manageable target, Thunderbolts’ batsmen Suresh Salvi with 26 runs with the support of Norie D’souza and Nalin Vyas , won this match and title to become richer by Rs. 30,000/-. The Runners up ‘Giant Killers’ bagged Rs.20,000/- while ‘Dadaji Daring’ XI took home Rs.10,000/- in prize, for their 3rd place.
From L to R : Naresh Netravalkar, Girish Wagle, Mayank & Bhau Sawant.
Mr. Jitendra Roy and Mr. Jigar Shah and The MCF Cricket organising committee, which did a commendable job, thanked Mr. Rameshbhai Kapadia( Popularly known as ‘Dadaji’and Owner of ‘Dadaji’s Daring XI) for his support in making stay arragements of 25 outstation players, who had come for this tournament. They also thanked the Umpires for their briliant services and also all the senior citizen participants for their enthusiasm and commitment to this game.
Players with their families, organisers and Dadaji ( Sitting in the centre)
The individual prize winners declared by the organisers, were as follows:
Man of the Match ( Finals) : Suresh Salvi
Man of th Series : Uday Naik
Best Batsman of the Series : Sanjay Shukla ( Total runs 160).
Best Bowler of the Series : Ramesh Narvekar
Best Fielder : Mark D’souza
Maximum fours : Kamlesh Oza
Maximum Sixes : Sanjay Shukla.
Trophies and medals displayed before Prize distribution ceremony
Maxie D’mello from Vasai, played a crucial role, helping his team Giant Killers XI to build a strong total of 85 for 4 in six overs against RG’s The Team’ in the MCF Club organised Sr. Citizens Premier Cricket League tournament at the Mandpeshwar Civic Federation ground , Borivali today.
MoM. Maxie D’mello ( Giant Killers) from Vasai
Having won the toss, Giant Killers led by Owner and Captain Commander Anil Bhalerao, elected to bat first, recording a huge score of 85 runs, with a fine innings by Maxie D’mello who scored quick 20 runs in 8 balls. Two other players who contributed to Giant Killers big total were Mukesh Mule 23 runs in 9 balls and Jagadish 21 runs in 9 balls. In reply, RG’s The Team’ could manage only 46 runs and lost this match. Maxie D’mello took 2 wickets for Giant Killers and was declared the Man of the match.
In other interesting match, Shrikrishna XI tied up with Super Eleven with both the teams scoring 64 runs each. Kamalesh Oza who scored 28 runs and Pradeep Gad who took 2 wickets for 10 runs were jointly declared Men of the match and they received their prizes from Suved Parkar Mumbai’s Ranaji Trophy player. Their tied match helped ‘RG’s The team’ to find their fourth place in the play off stage.
Satendra Waghmare ( RG’s The Team) 3 for 13
Earlier, during the day, “RG’sThe Team’ playing in absence of their star player Ganesh Patil, managed to win their crucial league match against Kingly Eleven team , which had scored only 38 runs on board in 6 overs. Thanks to Satendra Waghmare, captain and co-owner of ‘RG’s The team’, who took 3 wickets for 13 runs. ‘RG’s The team’ reached this easy target in just 4 overs, with brlilliant 28 by Dr. Vivek Ringe.
Team Thunderbolts owned by Sanjay Shukla, also proved their class by securing second place in the 1st semi final, after they defeated Shrikrishna Eleven by 16 runs. The fine efforts by Nitin Juvekar who contributed 47 quick runs for Shrikrishna’s total of 65 runs, went in vain. But, Girish Amin from Vadodara, who scored a fine knock of 60 runs for Thunderbolts with 6 sixes and 4 fours, helped his team to build a huge target. Girish Amin was declared Man of the Match.
Though they lost their last match to Super Eleven, Dadaji Daring XI team secured 3rd place in the knock out stage, on the basis of their earlier wins and net run rate. Ashutosh Dave who scored 39 runs, was declared MoM, while Suhas Sapre also scored 23 valuable runs in this match.
Ashutosh Dave 39 runs MoM.
Matches in the knock out stage, i.e. semi finals and finals will be played on Sunday from 9.30 am onwards.
‘Dadaji Daring XI’ Cricket team scored their third consecutive win, when they defeated ‘Kingly XI Sports club’ in the MCF Club organised Sr. Citizens Premier Cricket League tournament at the Mandpeshwar Civi Federation ground , Borivali today. “Dadaji Daring XI’ team had earlier beaten ‘RG’s The Team’ and ‘Shrikrishna XI’ successively, yesterday in this 6-6 over match, to be in the 2nd position in this seven team’s league.
‘Dadaji Daring’ team celebrate their 3rd successive win in the company of Dadaji -the owner of the team( Sitting 2nd from left) and Sanjay Shukla the Co- owner( Standing in the Centre) .
‘Thunderbolts XI’ had secured first position at the end of the first day yesterday, on the basis of their top net run rate. But, today was the day For ‘Dadaji Daring XI’ as 74 year old Ramesh Narvekar was declared Man of The match’, on the basis of his all round performance.
Mohan Krishnaswamy ( RG’s The Team) with his MoM trophy
Ramesh Narvekar ( Right) receiving MoM award.
In other interesting closely fought match today afternoon, ‘RG’s The Team’ scored a close win in a thrilling finish over ‘Shrikrishna XI’ . Set to achieve the target of 63 runs in 6 overs by ‘Shrikrishna XI’, the ‘RG’s Team’ made it possible in the final over. Thanks to Mohan Krishnaswamy who scored quick 23 runs in 7 balls ( with 3 sixes). He was well supported by superb 26 by Dr. Vivek Ringe, who has come all the way from Vadodara, to play this tournament. Dr. Vivek had scored quick 43runs for ‘RG’s The Team’ in the earlier match played in the morning.
Dr. Vivek Ringe ( RG’sThe Team) smashed 26 and 43 runs respectively in two separate matches today
Having lost their first two matches yesterday, it was great comeback by ‘RG’s The team’ today, to win both their matches. This is the Season -2 of the Senior Citizens Premier Cricket League. Thanks to the Cricket Sub-Committee of MCF Club , especially Mr. Jitendra Roy and Mr. Jigar Shah for making elaborate arrangements at the venue.
Renowned cricket personality Milind Rege passed away today, after suffering heart attack. He was 76. An all rounder, Milind played for Mumbai team from 1966 to 1978. He also captained Mumbai Cricket team. Milind played 52 first class matches and took 126 wickets at an average of 29.23 and scored 1532 runs at an average of 23.56. Milind suffered first heart attack at the age of 26, but he returned to play after taking a break for one year. He was an off spinner and a very good middle order batsman, having helped Mumbai team win some important matches at crucial stage.
Milind Rege
Milind was a close friend of legendary Sunil Gavaskar and before playing active cricket, both of them also represented their school St.Xavier’s High School, in Table tennis at the inter school meets. Later, in School’s cricket, Milind captained St. Xavier’s School. He always remained in close touch with his school and college friends till recent times. Recalling his good old school days, his friend Jayant Rane , who kept the wickets for St. Xavier’s School team said, “ Milind was a fantastic all rounder. While bowling, he used to signal to me that the next ball would be a late cutter and that really puzzled the batsman.”
St. Xavier’s School team: Milind Rege- Captain( Sitting 2nd from Left), Sunil Gavaskar( Sitting 2nd from Right), Jayant Rane -Wicket Keeper Standing Ext-Left, Sopan Banerjee ( Standing 2nd from Right).Photo Courtesy: Jayant Rane
Milind also played and captained Tata Sports Club and served as Sectretary of Tata Sports Club for two decades. He served as Selector and Administrator of MCA and also served as Chairman of Selectors of MCA. Milind was not keeping well recently. His close friend Sunil Gavaskar met him two days ago, in hospital , before he left for Champions trophy assignment as a commentator. Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar also paid his tributes to late Milind Sir, calling him a true Mumbai cricketer with immense contributions to the city’s cricket.
Magzmumbai offer heartfelt condolences to his family members and close friends.
Organising sports events and at the same time participating in it and winning medals, is a difficult task. But, at 49+ Shravani Dhapre has been managing it well. A Senior Stenographer with BEST Undertaking, Mumbai, Shravani, who is also serving as the Jt. Hon.Secretary of Indo Master Players Table Tennis Association( IMPTTA) since its formation last year, has been working tirelessly, after her office hours, to organise events one after the other, for IMPTTA.
Last year, during all the four state ranking tournaments of IMPTTA, she shouldered multiple responsibilities with her Hon.Secretary Sameer Bhate and another Jt.Hon. Secretary Sachin D’Souza. But, she has always been calling it a team work of all committee members, for the successful conduct of all these tournaments. All this was possible under the leadership of Mr. Arwind Prabhoo, President of IMPTTA. Shravani doesn’t forget to mention the names of Naveen Verghese, Rakesh Nigudkar and others from PTKS, for their technical support.
During the recently concluded IMPTTA- National Masters’ TT championship at Andheri Sports Complex, Shravani camped there at the venue and worked silently towards smooth conduct of the event, from 7 am till late night on all six days. She was instrumental in registering many of the 758 players and 650 tournament entries from 23 states of India, before the start of this big event. Her personal contact with every women 40+players in India, helped a lot.
In spite of her busy schedule in conduct of the championship, she also offered her services for Maharashtra Women’s team ( 39 & 49+ combined) and helped bag Gold medal and a trophy for the team, besides winning few more medals in individual events. She certainly deserves a special award and we are sure, her employers will also take note of her selfless services towards the promotion of sports, besides her achievements at the state, national and international level and offer her suitable reward.
Except for losing the team championship finals to West Bengal in Women’s 59+category, Maharashtra Women dominated in 39+ and 49+combined category, winning Gold and a huge trophy. Though we saw some resistance coming from Rajasthan and Telangana women in earlier rounds of team events, Maharashtra women were seen fighting in the finals among themselves in the finals. Maharashtra men also after winning the 49+ title earlier, defeating favourites West Bengal, went on to claim the Men’s 39+ and Men’s 59+ titles, after defeating their second team players.
Maharashtra 39 &49+ Women’s team with Gold medals & Trophy .L to R: Trupti Machve, Sivapriya Naik, Shravani Dhapre & Sushma Mogare.
Kiran Salian, who invited all the attention on the penultimate day, went on to bag total four Gold medals in team and other three individual events, namely Men’s 49+ Singles, Men’s 49+ doubles( with Sameer Bhate) and Mixed 49+ doubles with Bibiana Lopes. This was a splendid show by Kiran, who found this opportunity to display his talent. Though our home team players put up a good show also in the individual events, besides legends Abu Rizwan, Debashish Saha, and Mantu Murmu( all from West Bengal) there were other visitors who performed very well. Indronil Chhattopadhyay and U.N. Ramkumar ( West Bengal) won the Men’s doubles 39+ title, while Sushila Choudhary and Divya Gautam from Rajasthan lifted the Women’s doubles 49+ title.
Kiran Salian won four Gold medalsin Men’s 49+
The hard work put in by Shravani Dhapre , Jt.Hon. Secretary of IMPTTA is to be admired. Besides working hard in the organising committee from morning till night, this senior stenographer from BEST Undertaking, managed to play in this competition in 49+ events and also won few medals. Her team along with Sivapriya Naik, Trupti Machave and Sushma Mogare( LIC) won Gold medal in Women’s 49+ team event. Two other active members in the organising committee, namely Swati Agharkar and Sadiya Vanjara also bagged few medals.
Snehal Bhole- Gold medal in Women’s 39+
The performances of Moonmoon Mukherjee, who won Gold in the Women’s 49+ singles and Snehal Bhole who also won Gold in Women’s 39+ Singles for Maharashtra, also need a special mention. Sushma who works for LIC India lost narrowly 2-3 to Moonmoon Mukherjee in the finals of Women’s 49+, but bagged Gold in 40+ Women’s doubles, partnering Gayatri Mohan. Sushma was also member of Women’s 39+ 49 + combined women’s team, which won Gold.
Moonmoon Mukherjee -Gold medal in Women’s 49+
Results of all individual finals played on the final day, are below:
Known for his cool and composed game and good use of variation in services, Maharashtra’s Kiran Salian invited all the attention on the penultimate day of the IMPTTA- National Masters’ Table Tennis Championship at Andheri Sports Complex, Mumbai. Kiran while representing Maharashtra A team along with Sameer Bhate, Tejas Naik and Rajesh Singh, not only assured a Gold medal for Maharashtra team, as they booked their place in finals along with their ‘B’ team.
Kiran Salian in action
In the Men’s 49+ Singles semi finals event, Kiran received a walkover from top seeded Sameer Bhate , to meet Ravi Chopra, who defeated hard hitter Bhushan Nevgi 3-2 in another closely fought battle. Kiran had earlier beaten Tejas Naik 3-1 also from Maharashtra. In Men’s doubles semi finals, Kiran Partnering Sameer Bhate scored a straight 3-0 games win over Dr. Nitin Toshniwal & Atmaram Gangarde to meet Rajesh Singh and Naveen Salian in finals. Thereafter, partnering Bibiana Lopes in Mixed doubles 49+ semi finals, Kiran scored another easy 3-0 win over Avinash Kothari and Moonmoon Mukherjee. The other semi finals was won by Naveen Salian and Trupti Machve, who beat Sameer Bhate & Shravani Dhapre. Kiran’s winning run clearly indicated that he was in line for triple crown in 49+ events.
In the 49+ Women’s team event, Maharashtra women also assured a Gold medal, as their ‘A’ team represented by Sivapriya Naik, Shravani Dhapre, Trupti Machve & Sushma Mogre will aceept the challenge from their ‘ B’ team, comprising of Sadiya Vanjara, Vinita Shukla and Priyanka Ghumre in the finals.
The women’s 49+ singles event, also ensured Maharashtra another Gold medal in individual singles, as both Moonmoon Mukherjee and Sushma Mogre secured their place in the final, with their victories over Sivapriya Naik and Shravani Dhapre respectively.
Rajasthan’s doubles pair Divya Gautam(L) and Sushila Choudhary gave an impressive performance
However, In the 49+ Women’s doubles event, Rajasthan women Sushila Chaudhary and Divya Gautam put up a good show in semi finals, securing their place in the finals, after defeating seeded pair of Shravani Dhapre and Trupti Machve. They will face the challenge from another Maharashtra pair of Vaishali Malvankar & Ujwala Chandramore in the final.
Debashish Saha ( West Bengal) toppled top seed Jogesh Motwani ( Maharashtra) 3-2 in semi finals of Men’s 59+ Singles .
The Men’s 59+ team event will be played between Maharashtra A and C teams. In the Men’s Singles 59+ semi final, West Bengal’s Debashish Saha toppled top seeded Jogesh Motawani 3-2 in a thrilling five setter match. He will meet Maharashtra’s Pradeep Gupta in the finals. The other results of 59+ individual semi final events are as follows:
