Winning start for Rajasthan, Mumbai, Gujarat and Chennai franchises

The much-awaited season 6 of the eight team franchise based Tennis Premier League (TPL), kicked-off at the refurbished Centre court of the Cricket Club of India (CCI), Mumbai in presence of legendary Indian player Leander Paes along with Co-founders Kunal Thakkur and Mrunal Jain.

The action packed evening which saw all the eight teams including defending champions defending champion Bengaluru SG Pipers, local favourites Yash Mumbai Eagles having the presence of some of the top names from the world of tennis, slug it out for glory for a total of 100 points in a round robin league format under floodlights.

Huge applause from the vociferous tennis aficionados greeted the participating players which included former World No. 1 and two times Doubles Grand Slam winner Rohan Bopanna, France's Hugo Gaston (World No.61), Indian top Singles specialist Sumit Nagal (World no.74 and India No.1), Karan Singh (India No.4), Veteran Vishnu Vardhan (India No.8), Armenian Elina Avanesyan (World No.44), Zeynep Sonmez (World No.90) among others who turned up for their respective franchises during the course of their respective Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Mixed Doubles and/or  Men’s Doubles matches (each of which was played 25-point tie-break format).

Graced by the presence of Bollywood actresses Sonali Bendre, the brand ambassador of Chennai Smashers and Taapsee Pannu, co-owner of the Punjab Patriots’ during their teams’ respective the high-octane opening day of Tennis saw Rajasthan Rangers, Yash Mumbai Eagles, Hyderabad Strikers and Chennai Smashers come up with narrow wins.

In the inaugural match  Rohan Bopanna's Rajasthan Rangers trumped over Sumit Nagal's Gujarat Panthers 57-43, while Yash Mumbai Eagles edged past Punjab Patriots’ 55-45, Hyderabad Strikers sealed a 57-42 win over Bengal Wizards and in the final match of the day, Chennai Smashers took center stage by upsetting reigning champions Bengaluru SG Pipers 54-46.

Earlier co-founders Kunal Thakkur and Mrunal Jain expressed delight on the commencement of yet another action packed season of TPL which is being conducted in Mumbai in association with the All-India Tennis Association (AITA) and Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA).

"We are all excited for the sixth edition of TPL. The journey has been very good so far and we hope to make this season bigger and better. I wish luck to all the players and the teams," Kunal Thakkur said.

"It feels so great that we are starting the sixth edition of TPL. We have some big and prominent names in the ranks and I wish all the franchises and the players all the best for the tournament," Mrunal Jain added

Rajasthan Rangers Vs Gujarat Panthers:

Playing the first match of the season, Rajasthan Rangers Christina Dinu took on Ekaterina Kazionova in the Women’s Singles category. Christina prevailed with a scoreline of 14-11 in a tightly contested first game. Arthur Fery of the Rajasthan Rangers got the better of Gujarat Panthers’ Sumit Nagal with the same scoreline (14-11) in the Men’s Singles.

Rajasthan Rangers mentored by Leander Paes continued their winning run in the Mixed Doubles category, courtesy Rohan Bopanna and Christina Dinu defeating Vijay Sundar Prashanth and Ekaterina Kazionova with a scoreline of 14-11. In the Men’s Doubles category, the pair of Rohan Bopanna and Arthur Fery emerged victorious against Sumit Nagal and Vijay Sundar Prashanth with the scoreline reading 15-10, helping the Rajasthan Rangers win the game 57-43.

Yash Mumbai Eagles vs Punjab Patriots:

Elina Avanesyan won a nail-biting contest against Zeynep Sonmez with a scoreline of 13-12 in the Women’s Singles to put the visitors ahead. In the Men’s Singles, Karan Singh of Yash Mumbai Eagles dominated against Mukund Sasikumar of Punjab Patriots with the score reading 18-7.

Later Saketh Myneni and Elina Avanesyan of the Punjab Patriots came out on top against Jeevan Neduncheziyan and Zeynep Sonmez, winning 13-12 in a hard-fought game in the Mixed Doubles category. In another close contest in the Men’s Doubles category, Saketh Myneni and Mukund Sasikumar faced Jeevan Neduncheziyan and Karan Singh. The Yash Mumbai Eagles left and right duo won the see-saw game 13-12, after trailing at the halfway stage. Their narrow win saw the Mumbai based franchise seal their opening match with the scoreline of 55-45.

Hyderabad Strikers Vs Bengal Wizards:

Harriet Dart and Kamilla Rakhimova got things underway for Hyderabad Strikers, with the former winning 18-7 in the Women’s Singles category. In the Men’s Singles category, Benjamin Lock overcame a tough contest against Niki Poonacha with a scoreline of 16-9.

The Mixed Doubles category saw Harriet Dart and Vishnu Vinod go up against Kamilla Rakhimova and Sriram Balaji. The Bengal Wizards duo clinched a thrilling encounter with the score at 13-12. Despite Niki Poonacha and Sriram Balaji getting the better of Benjamin Lock and Vishnu Vinod with the score at 14-11 in the Men’s Doubles category, Hyderabad Strikers won the match 57-43.

Bengaluru SG Pipers Vs Chennai Smashers:

Chennai Smashers’ Swiss based Conny Perrin, a regular on TPL cover the season, won her Women’s Singles game against Czech Republic’s Gabriela Knutson with the scoreline of 13-12. It was another closely fought encounter in the Men’s Singles, where French Hugo Gaston triumphed against Spanish Bernabe Zapata by a scoreline of 13-12.

Chennai Smashers continued their domination as the pair of Conny Perrin and Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli cruised to a 17-8 victory against Anirudh Chandrasekar and Gabriela Knutson. In the final game of the day, Bengaluru SG Pipers got the win in the Men’s doubles category. Anirudh Chandrasekar and Bernabe Zapata clinched a 14-11 win against Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli and Hugo Gaston. However, the Chennai Smashers still ended up winning the match with a scoreline of 54-46 in its maiden season.

Overall standing (Round 1 League Phase):

Hyderabad Strikers and Rajasthan Rangers topped the league table with 57 points each after their respective first round robin league matches. Yash Mumbai Eagles are in third place with 55 points, while debutant Chennai Smashers are right behind in fourth place with 54 points. Followed by them are the Bengaluru SG Pipers and Punjab Patriots tied on 45 points. To complete the league standings, Bengal Wizards and Gujarat Panthers with 43 points each are placed bottom of the table.

Photo Cover:India’s No.1 ranked singles player in action on the opening day of TPL6

Photo Above: A Tennis fan takes a selfie along with one of TPL co-founder Kunal Thakkur and legendary Indian player Leander Paes during TPL 6 (Photos by Ashok Dhamija)