“I am extremely happy to see the enthusiasm and spirit displayed by the veteran TT players, during this 2 day week end state ranking tournament,” said Ms. Smita Bodas, Businesswoman & wife of Rajeev Bodas, president of MSTTA and one of the guests of honour at the concluding function of the PYC Gymkhana State Ranking Open Table Tennis tournament held in Pune.
Rajeev Bodas contratulating Ajay Kothavale, winner of Men’s 49+ group.
The tournament saw the emergence of a new Veterans TT champion, in Men’s 49+ age group. Consistent and aggressive Ajay Kothavale from Pune had become the favourite of spectators on the first day of the tournament, when he defeated top seeded and former international Sunil Babras. On the final day, he continued with his form to reach finals of the Men’s 49+ group and displayed his skills while defeating seasoned TT Player K.K.Rai from Mumbai Suburban District(MSD).
Former international Suhas Kulkarni was conferred with Lifetime achievement award
In the men’s 39+ group it was smooth sailing for another Pune player Upendra Mulye , who once again proved that he was far superior to hard hitter Sameer Bhate , when it came to using the strategies crucial stage. Sameer had earlier caused an upset, defeating his own MSD team mate Kiran Salian. In the 59+ age group, stylish lefthander and evergreen Prakash Kelkar from MSD proved his supremacy defeating Percy Mehta from Mumbai City District. Percy had earlier beaten Avinash Joshi from Pune, in well fought five games encounter in the semi finals, while Prakash scored over his Mumbai colleague hard hitter Jayant Kulkarni in other semi finals.
Upendra Mulye 39+ champion captured by Photographer Prasad Naik, while playing reverse stroke.
The Men’s 64+ and Men’s 69+ finals turned one sided with Suhas Kulkarni & Zarksis Khandadia proving them selves superior to their opponents Yogesh Desai and Subodh Deshpande respectively. The women’s singles 39+,49+ and 59+ titles were won by Sushma Mogare, Dr. Anagha Joshi and Mangal Saraf respectively. Veteran Suhas Kulkarni, who won the 64+ Men’s event was felicitated by PYC Gymkhana tournament committee for his non stop contribution to the game of table tennis for the past 50 years. Reciprocating to their gesture, Suhas recalled his childhood days in the city of Pune, while studying in Bhave School, just next to PYC Gymkhana. “I started playing Table tennis at this PYC Gymkhana and was later trained by former international TT player and national champion Meena Parande. It is my privilege to receive this award from the same Gymkhana,” said the champion.
Sameer Bhate’s expressions captured through the lenses of Prasad Naik.
The tournament concluded with a happy note, when the participants thanked Mr. Avinash Joshi and Mr. J.Shaligram for the smooth conduct of this tournament. Mr Rajeev Bodas President of MSTTA also made an official announcement about the conduct of National Veterans TT Championship in Balewadi, Pune between January 17- 22, 2017.