Century Bashers produced another brilliant all-round performance and scored an authoritative win over PTKS Achievers recording a massive 210-60 point victory in a second round Group-A match of the DCB Bank-Mumbai Premier League (MPL) – Table Tennis 2023, organized by The Suburban Table Tennis Association (TSTTA, Mumbai) in association with the Mumbai City District Table Tennis Association (MCDTTA) and played at the Prabodhankar Thackeray Krida Sankul (PTKS), Vile Parle on Saturday morning.
Chief Guest, Captain Yogendra Singh Yadav, recipient of the Param Vir Charkra Award hold aloft the ‘Champions’ trophy during the inauguration of the DCB Bank-Mumbai Premier League (MPL) – Table Tennis 2023 at the Prabodhankar Thackeray Krida Sankul (PTKS), Vile Parle on Saturday. Also seen are Pankaj Sood, Retail Branch Banking Head, DCB Bank and TSTTA Executive Committee members.
The Bashers were in a dominant mood and won seven of the nine matches and did not drop a game in six of those matches, which they won 3-0. The second win for Bashers, by a huge point difference swelled their points tally to 350 points and sit at the top of the group.
In another Group-A match, Thunder Falcons also enjoyed an easy outing coasting past Mumbai Royals by a 190-80 point victory. Falcons after two rounds now have a tally of 320 points and occupy the second position in the group.
In Group-B second round encounters, Super Titans continued with their impressive showing and registered their second win beating Ping-Pong Knights 140-130 in a well-contested match. In the other match, Ping Panthers got the better of Underdogs by a 160-110 point margin to record their first win.
Earlier, the MPL was inaugurated by Captain Yogendra Singh Yadav, recipient of the Param Vir Charkra Award in the presence of Pankaj Sood, Retail Branch Banking Head, DCB Bank, Arvind Prabhoo, President, PTKS & TSTTA and TSTTA Executive Committee members.
Bashers started in positive fashion as Yuvraj Yadav outplayed Dev Hingorani 3-0 (11-6, 11-7, 11-3) to win the boys’ U-15 tie, but in the second tie, Vaishnavi Jaiswal lost to PTKS Achievers Hardee Patel 1-2 (14-12, 6-11, 5-11) in the Girls’ U-17 match.
Thereafter, Bashers cruised along winning the next six ties by 3-0 margins. First Senhora D’Souza (women) and Chaitanya Ahuja (boys u-17) combined to beat the Achievers pair of Ananya Chande and Ayush Sonawane 3-0 (13-11, 12-10, 11-3) and then in the veteran’s men tie, Kedar Kasbekar beat Kiran Salian 3-0 (11-8, 12-10, 11-6). Later, Chinmaya Somaiya tamed Jash Modi winning 3-0 (11-9, 11-6, 11-7) before the doubles (veteran & boys u-15) pair of Kasbekar and Yadav overcame Salian and Hingorani 3-0 (12-10, 11-5, 13-11). D’Souza completed another good win for Bashers defeating Chande 3-0 (11-5, 11-4, 11-7) in the women’s singles seventh tie of the match.
Achievers won the mixed (men & girls u-17) doubles pairing of Modi and Patel easily defeated Somaiya and Jaiswal 3-0 (11-4, 11-4, 11-6). In the concluding tie, Bashers youngsters Ahuja defeated Sonawane 2-1 (8-11, 11-5, 11-2) in the boys U-17 match to complete a highly successful round for his team.
Earlier in Round-1 encounters, PTKS Achievers combined well and took a comfortable 160-110 points lead against Mumbai Royals, while Century Bashers snatched a close 140-130 points lead against Thunder Falcons in Group-A.
In Group-B, Underdogs gallantly fought back to overcome Ping-Pong Knights 150-120 while Super Titans eased past Ping Panthers by a convincing 160-110 points margin.
Results – Round-1 – Group-A: PTKS Achievers beat Mumbai Royals 160-110, Century Bashers beat Thunder Falcons 140-130.
Group-B: Underdogs beat Ping-Pong Knights 150-120, Super Titans beat Ping Panthers 160-110.
Round-2 – Group-A: Century Bashers beat PTKS Achievers 210-60, Thunder Falcons beat Mumbai Royals 190-80.
Group-B: Super Titans beat Ping-Pong Knights 140-130, Ping Panthers beat Underdogs 160-110.