They had no big stars, but their all players pulled their weight to outplay their strong looking opponents. Actually, it was second win for Supreme Fighters, as they had defeated Kool Smashers earlier in their Group match. And, in the finals of 2nd iProspect-Mumbai Super League, organised by 11Even Sports, they proved their supremacy with 5-3 win over their opponents , to bag the prize money of Rs. 1.5 lakh. Kool Smashers had to be content with Rs 1 lakh, while the losing semi-finalists were richer by Rs 50,000
Victorious Supreme Fighters team pose with Vita Dani, Chairperson,11even Sports and owners of their team after the conclusion of 2nd edition of the iProspect-Mumbai Super League (MSL) Table Tennis Championship at NSCI, Mumbai.
Perhaps, anticipating the presence of National men’s champion Sanil Shetty with Kool Smashers , Supreme Fighters planned their strategy well to win the doubles matches and they did succeed in winning two of them, while losing the Sr.Men’s doubles narrowly. But, Supreme Fighters had three crucial singles matches won by Mrunmayee Mhatre, Manushree Patil and little T.K Srikant who kept his nerves in the decider between the diminutive rivals to prevail and give his team a 4-2 lead. For Kool Smashers, Tanmay Rane put up a good show, winning his boys’ singles match. The other two matches won by Kool Smashers were Sanil’s victory over Ravindra Kotiyan and Sanil combining with Kiran Salian to win Sr. Men’s doubles narrowly.
Best players declared in different categories, are as follows:
Cadet boys: T.K. Srikanth (Supreme Fighters)
Junior girls: Diya Chitale (High Tide)
Junior boys: Mandar Hardikar (High Tide)
Veterans: Kiran Salian (Kool Smashers)
Women’s: Madhurika Patkar (MTC Royals)
Men’s: Noel Pinto (MTC Royals)
Results: Final
Supreme Fighters bt Kool Smashers 5-3 (Mrunmayee Mhatre bt Ruchira Manerkar 5-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-9 (Women’s Singles); Ravindra Kotiyan lost to Sanil Shetty 13-15, 6-11, 9-11 (Men’s Singles); Hrishikesh Malhotra lost to Tanmay Rane 11-9, 7-11, 2-11, 10-12 (Junior Boys singles); Ravindra Kotiyan/Mrunmayee Mhatre bt Sanil Shetty/Ruchira Manerkar 11-9, 17-15, 11-5, 13-11 (Mixed Doubles); Manushree Patil bt Krisha Agarwal 11-5, 11-6, 11-4 (Junior Girls); T.K.Srikanth bt Havish Asrani 5-11, 11-9, 9-11,11-9, 11-9 (Cadet Boys); Harish Shirsat/Ravindra Kotiyan lost to Kiran Sailan/Sanil Shetty 7-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-9, 7-11 (Doubles Men/Veteran); Hrishikesh Malhotra/Manushree Patil bt Tanmay Rane/Krisha Agarwal 11-2, 11-5, 7-11, 11-6 (Mixed Junior Doubles)
Results- Semi-finals:
1) Supreme Fighters bt Ace 5-3 (Mrunmayee Mhatre lost to Ashlesha Trehan 9-11, 8-11, 3-11 Womens Singles; Ravindra Kotiyan lost to Omkar Torgalkar 13-15, 5-11, 11-9, 11-6, 9-11 Mens Singles; Hrishikesh Malhotra lost to Shivam Das 6-11, 6-11, 11-8, 5-11 Junior Boys; Ravindra Kotiyan/ Mrunmayee Mhatre bt Omkar Torgalkar/Ashlesha Trehan 11-9, 11-9, 11-7 Mixed Doubles Mens/Womem; Manushree Patil bt Manasi Chiplunkar 11-7, 11-8, 11-8 Junior Girls; T.K.Srikanth bt Kushal Patel 11-2, 11-1, 11-7 Cadet Boys; Harish Shirsat/Ravindra Kotiyan bt Suhas Kulkarni/Omkar Torgalkar 12-10, 12-10, 15-13 Doubles Veteran /Men; Hrishikesh Malhotra/Manushree Patil bt Shivam Das/Manasi Chiplinkar 11-6, 11-4, 11-6 Mixed Junior Boys/Girls
2) Kool Smashers bt MTC Royals 5-4 (Ruchira Manerkar lost to Madhurika Patkar 3-11, 5-11, 6-11 Womens Singles; Sanil Shetty bt Noel Pinto 11-4, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5 Mens Singles; Tanmay Rane bt Parthav Kelkar 6-11, 11-6, 11-6, 7-11, 11-9 Junior Boys; Sanil Shetty/Ruchira Manerkar lost to Noel Pinto/Madhurika Patkar 4-11, 7-11, 5-11 Mixed Doubles Mens/Womem; Krisha Agarwal lost to Pranjal Shinde 2-11, 9-11, 11-9, 5-11 Junior Girls; Havish Asrani lost to Jash Modi 7-11, 3-11, 6-11 Cadet Boys; Kiran Salian/Sanil Shetty bt Prakash Kelkar/Noel Pinto 5-11, 11-8, 16-18, 13-11, 11-5 Doubles Veteran/Men; Tanmay Rane/Kriksha Agarwal bt Parthav Kelkar/Pranjal Shinde 11-6, 11-9, 12-10 Mixed Junior Boys/Junior Girls; Kiran Sailan bt Prakash Kelkar 11-9, 8-11, 8-11, 11-6