Pune, (Samajweekly) The first day of season 5 of the Tennis Premier League (TPL) culminated with a round of blockbuster matches. The matches commenced after a grand opening ceremony at the magnificent Balewadi Stadium, which featured a charcoal-colored court for the first time in India.
The round of fixtures began with the Bengal Wizards taking on the Hyderabad Strikers for the first match of the fifth season of the Tennis Premier League. The match began with the Women’s Singles Category. Maria Timofeeva from Bengal Wizards took on Ellen Perez of Hyderabad Strikers, which ended in a 10-all draw. The match was followed by the Men’s Singles Category which was played between Sriram Balaji of the Bengal Wizards and Niki Poonacha of Hyderabad Strikers, in which Sriram Balaji came out on top with a score of 16-4.
The next category was that of the Mixed Doubles in which Maria Timofeeva and Anirudh Chandrasekar of the Bengal Wizards took on Ellen Perez and Saketh Myneni of the Hyderabad Strikers in a match that ended 5-15 in favour of the Hyderabad Strikers. The last category was the Men’s Doubles Category which saw Sriram Balaji and Anirudh Chandrasekar of the Bengal Wizards go head-to-head against Saketh Myneni and Niki Poonacha of Hyderabad Strikers. The match ended 15-5 in favour of the Bengal Wizards. The match ended 46-34 in favour of the Bengal Wizards, who had secured a stunning victory over last year’s champions the Hyderabad Strikers in their first-ever match in the TPL. Sriram Balaji of the Bengal Wizards was awarded the Player of the Match award for his stunning display in the clash.
The second fixture saw the home team Pune Jaguars take on Delhi Binny’s Brigade. The match began with the Women’s Singles Category. Diana Marcinkevica of the Pune Jaguars took on Sahaja Yamalapalli of Delhi Binny’s Brigade, which ended 12-8 in favour of Diana.
The game was followed by the Men’s Singles Category played between Lukas Rosol of the Pune Jaguars and Dennis Novak of Delhi Binny’s Brigade, in which Novak emerged victorious as the tie ended 7-13 in his favour. The next category was that of the Mixed Doubles in which Diana Marcinkevica and Rithvik Bollipalli of the Pune Jaguars took on Sahaja Yamalapalli and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan of the Delhi Binny’s Brigade in a match that ended in a 10-all draw.
The last category was the Men’s Doubles which saw Rithvik Bollipalli and Lukas Rosol of the Pune Jaguars go up against Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Dennis Novak of Delhi Binny’s Brigade. The match ended 9-11 in favour of the Delhi Binny’s Brigade. The Delhi Binny’s Brigade edged out the Pune Jaguars, as the match ended 38-42 in their favour. Diana Marcinkevica of the Pune Jaguars was awarded the player of the match for the fixture.
The penultimate fixture of the day saw Punjab Patriots take on Bengaluru SG Mavericks. The match began with the Women’s Singles Category. Conny Perrin of the Punjab Patriots took on Arina Rodionova from Bengaluru SG Mavericks, which ended 13-7 in favour of the Swiss player. The tie was followed by the Men’s Singles Category, played between Digvijay Pratap Singh of the Punjab Patriots and Ramkumar Ramanathan of the Bengaluru SG Mavericks.
Ramkumar Ramanathan emerged victorious with a score of 9-11. The next game was that of the Mixed Doubles Category in which Conny Perrin and Arjun Khade of the Punjab Patriots took on Arina Rodionova and Vishnu Vardhan from Bengaluru SG Mavericks. The game ended 12-8 in favour of the Punjab Patriots. The last clash was the Men’s Doubles category which witnessed Digvijay Pratap Singh and Arjun Khade of the Punjab Patriots go up against Ramkumar Ramanathan and Vishnu Vardhan from Bengaluru SG Mavericks. The match ended 7-13 in favour of Bengaluru SG Mavericks. The Punjab Patriots secured the victory as the match ended 41-39 in their favour. The Punjab Patriots’ Conny Perrin was awarded the Player of the Match.
The final fixture of Day 1 saw the Mumbai Leon Army take on the Gujarat Panthers. The fixture began with the Women’s Single Category. Sowjanya Bavisetti of the Mumbai Leon Army took charge against Karman Kaur Thandi of the Gujarat Panthers, the match ended 6-14 in favour of the Gujarat franchise. Ernest Gulbis of the Mumbai Leon Army took on Sumit Nagal of the Gujarat Panthers in the Men’s Singles category which ended 8-12 in favour of Nagal.
The match was followed by the Mixed Doubles category in which Sowjanya Bavisetti and Vijay Sundar Prashanth of the Mumbai Leon Army were edged past by Karman Kaur Thandi and Mukund Sashikumar of the Gujarat Panthers after the clash ended 9-11. In the Men’s Double Ernest Gulbis and Vijay Sundar Prashanth of the Mumbai Leon Army played out an intense clash with Sumit Nagal and Mukund Sashikumar of the Gujarat Panthers that ended 11-9 in favour of the Mumbai Leon Army. The Gujarat Panthers came out on top at the end of the match as the scores read 46-34 in their favour. Karman Kaur Thandi of the Gujarat Panthers was adjudged to be the best player of the match.
At the end of Day 1 of the Tennis Premier League season 5, The Bengal Wizards sat atop the leaderboard with 46 points, they were closely followed by the Gujarat Panthers who had also amassed 46 points at the end of Day 1. Delhi Binny’s Brigade was third with 42 points, while Punjab Patriots were fourth with 41 points. The Bengaluru SG Mavericks occupied the fifth spot on the table with 39 points. The home team, Pune Jaguars were sixth at the end of Day 1 with 38 points. The Mumbai Leon Army and Hyderabad Strikers occupied the seventh and eighth spots on the table respectively after both teams amassed 34 points on Day 1.
