Prakash Kelkar stars in individual and team events

Maharashtra’s former national level Table Tennis player, Prakash Kelkar who represented the state team with élan in 1980s and 90s, was in prime form in both the team and individual events at the inaugural edition of the Indo Masters Players Table Tennis Association (IMPTTA) Masters National Table Tennis championship, being played at the Andheri Sports Complex , Mumbai.

Playing in the Men’s 64+ age category, the classy left-hander topspin player popularly known as PG among the TT fraternity along with Anil Rasam, Naresh Shah and Mahesh Shetye powered Maharashtra ‘A’ team to victory in the grand finale of the Team Championship event* against Telangana team which comprised of N.Taher & SVVR Rao.

The veteran enthusiast and paddler Prakash later showcased his skillsets by bagging  triple crowns in Men’s Singles, Men’s Doubles with Anil Rasam and later the Mixed Doubles, partnering Suhasini Bakre.

The Maharashtra 69+ ‘A’ team led by another former national level player Ulhas Shirke along with his team members Yogesh Desai, Deepak Dudhane, Antonio Gomes won Gold medal by a score line of 3-0 in an all Maharashtra Team Championship event.

Ulhas Shirke beat Maharashtra 69+ ‘B’ team player Shivand Kundaje 3-1. His team mate Yogesh Desai who too has represented India in open and veteran categories overcame a stiff resistance from rival skipper Percy Mehta, before winning 3-2 eventually. The two veteran stars Ulhas and Yogesh later combined well to see the back of Maharashtra ‘B’ duo of Percy and Shivanand in doubles. Earlier in the semi-finals of team event, Deepak Dudhane played an important role in Maharashtra 69+ ‘A’ team into the final by winning his both singles against Uttar Pradesh team composed of Major General Masaldan and Dr. Agarwal.  

Reigning National Masters’ Champion and former World Masters’ Champion, Mantu Murmu played a key role in guiding her West Bengal team against favourites Maharashtra team by a margin of 3-0 in the finals of Women’s 59+ Team Event

Mantu set the tone by winning her singles event against Ujwala Marathe, before Suhasini Bakre ensured Maharashtra fought back with a win over Karavi Maity in the second singles event. With the scores levelled at 1-1, the Doubles match proved to be very crucial. The experienced campaigner Mantu partnering Karavi managed to snatch a hard fought 3-2 win against Suhasini & Ujwala. In what was a repeat of World Veterans Table Tennis Championship  grand finale in the Women 60+ category that was played at Muscat, Oman in 2023, Suhasini fought back well against Kolkata-based Mantu to take the first two games latter in the reverse singles. A patient Mantu however proved her supremacy and went on to win the next three games in an edge of a seat thriller, with the decider at 11-9 and the team title.

In the Men’s 69+ Singles category former World Masters’ TT Champion Yogesh Desai won the Singles final beating Percy Mehta 3-2 in the finals. He also bagged a Silver in Men’s doubles (Partnering Ulhas Shirke).

In the Women’s 69+ Singles event Anjali Kanetkar ensured Gold medal for Maharashtra following her triumph over Geeta Rahariya of Rajasthan in the finals.

Mangal Saraf won the IMPTTA National Masters’ Women’s title in 64+ event beating Suhasini Bakre 3-2 in a thrilling final match, while A.M.Warunkar extended his fine form after having upset top seed P.V. Ramkrishnan in the semis,  by winning the Men’s 74+ Singles title. He defeated Rajasthan’s Mukund Dev Agarwal. Indresh Purohit from Gujarat got the better of A.S. Shaikh in the Men’s 79+ Singles summit clash.

Photo Cover:  Maharashtra Men’s 64+ ‘A’ team which included the evergreen Prakash Kelkar (top row extreme right) receive the Team Champion trophy  from the hands of a dignitary

Photo Above: Enthusiastic veteran paddlers in various age groups from 39+ to 79+ partake in team and individual events in the ongoing IMPTTA-National Masters’ Table Tennis championship