The lovers of table tennis witnessed a new venue in the form of a big shopping mall. Last weekend Growel’s 1O1 Mall, Kandivali, hosted ‘Growels’s Paddle Battle – The Epic Table Tennis’ at their atrium. The event was conducted for Junior Titans Cup which was open to both boys and girls in Under-15 category and the Elite Cup event, which was open to all the players of any age.
Players from 10 years to 70+ age group took part in this prize money event at Growel’s 1O1 mall, which was held under the auspices of The Suburban Table Tennis Association and in collaboration with SPORTIFI Promotion LLP.
Renowned young TT player Pranjal Shinde was the event manager of this unique successful TT tournament and she did her job very well. It was her idea to host a TT tournament in this shopping mall for better promotion of this game. Good support was extended to her by the marketing team of Growel’s 1O1 mall that too at a short notice. Besides managing this event, she also displayed her skills in this sport, by participating and performing well.
Raghav Mahajan from Gokuldham, School, Goregaon, won the Under -15 Junior Titans Cup, beating Pranay Jain in the finals. Raghav won the hearts of not only other participants but also large spectators, who visited the mall on week end and watched his game . His game was well balanced to tackle speed and spin from all his opponents. Agastya Shetty and Aditya Honnesh won Bronze medals in theis category.
For the Elite Cup, the competition was tougher, with many upcoming and versatile players posing a big challenge to each other. Seniormost among them was Ulhas Shirke, who usually plays in the Masters’ event, eversince he made his comeback to TT few years ago. He invited the attention of those who were present at the venue, displaying his great fighting spirit. On Sunday, from 9.30 am to 9.30 pm, he played seven matches of best of five games to reach finals. After qualifying for the main draw, he encountered all younger players, who were quicker and faster. Yet, he managed to win all his matches with his superb ball control and strong backhand finish.
Ulhas Shirke’s winning run was stopped by IITian Sharang Bhagdikar who beat him 3-2 . Sharang could not cope up with the forceful backhand of Ulhas in first two games and was 0-2 down. However, in the 3rd game he recovered to play his forceful topspin with more accuracy, to take the next three games and lift the Elite cup. Ulhas was more than happy to receive his runner- up Elite trophy Silver medal, and appreciation from all those, who were present at the venue.
Earlier, in the semi finals, Ulhas had to face the challenge from 13 year old Tanay Bakshi, an upcoming attacking young player. But, he fought this hard battle very well, to win 3-2. The other semi finalist in this group , who lost to Sharang was Aditya Honnesh. Among others, who couldn’t get the medals but gave their best in this competition were Yatarth Vora, Urmila Bapat, Ayushi Shirgaonkar, Pranay Jain, Yatarth kadel, Tanay Bakshi, Dr. Sadiya Vanjara and Pranjal Shinde.
Films, Television and Web series actor Amit Riyaan whose new film ‘The Rabbit House’ will be released on 20th Dec.) was the chief guest and he gave away the prizes to the winners. Amit was all praise for the selection of this venue and was highly impressed with the competitive spirit displayed by the participants. TSTTA Secretary Mr. Sameer Bhate thanked the marketing team of Growel’s 1O1Mall for making their space available for the promotion of this game in the form of this tournament.