Thunder Falcons and Century Bashers recorded comfortable victories to progress to the finals 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) at Prabodhankar Thackery Kreeda Sankul, Vile Parle. In the first semi-final, Falcons riding on the brilliance of Reagan Albuquerque (men) and Sana D’Souza (girls’ U-17), both winning their matches without dropping a game, went on to hand Ping Panthers a crushing defeat by a massive 140-50 point difference, at Prabodhankar Thackeray Krida Sankul .
Later, Bashers after losing the first two games without winning a game, bounced back by winning five of the next six matches to clinch a 140-100 point victory against Super Titans in the second semi-final. Left-handed Chinmaya Somaiya played a key role in Bashers’ win as he first won the men’s singles with losing a single game and then along with Vaishnavi Jaiswal (girl’s U-17) also won the mixed doubles without conceding a game. Later, Senhora D’Souza (women) and Chaitanya Ahuja (boys U-17) swept the second mixed doubles match 3-0 to complete the win.
Earlier, Thunder Falcons and Century Bashers finished as the top two teams in Group-A and qualified for the semi-finals. Falcons with a tally of 460 points grabbed the top position followed by Bashers with 440 points. The other two teams in the group, PTKS Achievers 350 points and Mumbai Royals 240 points were placed third and fourth.
In Group-B, Super Titans 490 points and Ping Panthers 400 points finished in first and second place respectively and moved to the semi-finals. Ping Pong Knights 390 points and Underdogs 340 points were placed third and fourth.
Result – Semi-finals: Thunder Falcons beat Ping Panthers 140-50, Century Bashers beat Super Titans 140-100.