The Akshay Gogari-led Roaring Panthers, the table-topper in the 5-team league, ultimately showed their mettle by outplaying DS Warriors 4-0 to lift the coveted trophy in the 2nd MCF Premier Table Tennis League, hosted by Mandpeshwar Civic Federation at their sports c0mplex here Last night. Incidentally, the win also proved to be a sweet revenge for them as the Warriors had beaten them during the league phase. As per the format table topper go straight into the final, while second and third-placed teams will fight in the semifinal with the winner going into the final.
Incidentally, Roaring Panthers’ captain Akshay Gogari, who remained unbeaten, throughout the league phase, in the end didnot have to play at all in the final as his teammates put their best foot forward to wrap up the tie against the Warriors.
On the other hand, Akira’s Dragons, who had finished on par with the Panthers with three wins and a loss in the league,, were distinctly the most unluckiest side, not to make the final as they missed the bus by a solitary point.
However, Akira’s Dragons, in between did go through some hiccups when after trailing 0-2 against Omtex, their pair of Siddhi Kolekar and Ameya Bhanushali , fought a tough battle of attrition before they claimed the double tie against Sudhir Kidav and Kunal Patel to bring their side back on the track And the icing on the cake was provided by Swayam Ibrampurkar, who thrashed Sohan Nirke to end with 4 wins and 3 losses- same as the table topper Roaring Panthers, but had to settle for the second spot on the basis of number of games won and lost. While DS Warriors, with two wins and identical losses, finished third.
Results of the Knockout semi finals and final:
(Semi finals):DS Warriors bt Akira’s Dragons 4-3: Ashok Sawant lost to Swayam Ibrampurkar 1-11, 9-11; Raju Rajpal bt Krishnamurthi K. 11-6, 11-8; Rayan Powar lost to Puneansh Kulkarni 4-11, 3-11; Siddhi Kolekar/Ameya Bhanushali bt Kunal Shah/Ashwin Trivedi 11-7, 7-11, 11-5; Anupriya Ratadia/Vikram Patel bt Nakul Denkar/Omkar Makena 11-8, 11-8; Rohan Patil bt Isha Shah 11-6, 11-7; Harsh Shah bt Ravi Jain 11-7, 8-11, 11-10.
(Final): Roaring Panthers bt DS Warriors 4-0:Parth Rambhia bt Ashok Sawant 11-3, 11-4, Pramod Limaye bt Raju Rajpal 10-11, 11-5, 11-4; Tanish Sawant bt Rayan Power 11-1,11-1., Yagnik Panchal/Chris Lunis bt Kunal Shah/Ashwin Trivedi 11-10; 11-7.