Finecab Hyderabad Strikers sit at top of the table after Day 1 of Tennis Premier League

The first day 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 in Pune.

The round of fixtures began with Delhi Binny’s Brigade taking on the Pune Jaguars for the first match of the fourth season of the Tennis Premier League. The match began with the Women’s Singles Category. Sowjanya Bivasetti from Delhi Binny’s Brigade took on Rutuja Bhosale of Pune Jaguars, which ended 12-8 in favour of Sowjanya. The match was followed by the Men’s Singles Category which was played between Mohamed Aziz Dougaz of Delhi Binny’s Brigade and Arjun Khade of Pune Jaguars, in which Arjun Khade came out on top with a score of 11-9. The next category was that of the Men’s Doubles in which Mohamed Aziz Dougaz and Siddhanth Banthia of Delhi Binny’s Brigade took on Arjun Khade and Vijay Sundar Prashanth in a match that ended 11-9 in favour of Delhi Binny’s Brigade. The last tie was the Mixed Doubles Category which saw Siddhanth Banthia and Sowjanya Bivasetti of Delhi Binny’s Brigade go head-to-head against Vijay Sundar Prashanth and Rutuja Bhosale of Pune Jaguars. The match ended 12-8 in favour of Pune Jaguars. Sowjanya Bivasetti was awarded the player of the match award for her excellent performance in the fixture.

The second fixture saw Gujarat Panthers take on Mumbai Leon Army. The match began with the Women’s Singles Category. Ankita Raina from Gujarat Panthers took on Valeriya Strakhova of Mumbai Leon Army, which ended 13-7 in favour of Ankita. The match was followed by the Men’s Singles Category which was played between Ramkumar Ramanathan of Mumbai Leon Army and Manish Sureshkumar of Gujarat Panthers, in which Ramkumar Ramanathan emerged victorious with a score of 11-9. The next category was that of the Men’s Doubles in which Ramkumar Ramanathan and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan of Mumbai Leon Army took on Manish Sureshkumar and Divij Sharan in a match that ended 11-9 in favour of Gujarat Panthers. The last tie was the Mixed Doubles Category which saw Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Valeriya Strakhova of Mumbai Leon Army go up against Ankita Raina and Divij Sharan of Gujarat Panthers. The match ended 12-8 in favour of Gujarat Panthers. Akita Raina was awarded the player of the match for the fixture between Mumbai Leon Army and Gujarat Panthers.

The penultimate fixture of the day saw Bengaluru Spartans take on Punjab Tigers. The match began with the Women’s Singles Category. Karman Kaur Thandi from Bengaluru Spartans took on Diana Marcinkevica, which ended in a draw 10-10. The match was followed by the Men’s Singles Category which was played between Siddharth Rawat of Bengaluru Spartans and Denis Istomin from Punjab Tigers in which Siddharth emerged victorious with a score of 13-7. The next category was that of the Men’s Doubles in which Vishnu Vardhan and Siddharth Rawat from Bengaluru Spartans took on Denis Istomin and Malek Jaziri from Punjab Tigers 11-9 in favour of Bengaluru Spartans. The last tie was the Mixed Doubles Category which witnessed Vishnu Vardhan and Karman Kaur Thandi from Bengaluru Spartans go up against Malek Jaziri and Diana Marcinkevica. The match ended 11-9 in favour of Bengaluru Spartans. Bengaluru Spartans’ Siddharth Rawat was awarded player of the match.

The final fixture saw Chennai Stallions take on Finecab Hyderabad Strikers. The fixture began with Women’s Single Category. Conny Perin of Finecab Hyderabad Strikers took charge against Ekaterina Kazionova of Chennai Stallion, the match ended 12-8 in favour of Conny Perrin. Nikki Poonacha from Finecab Hyderabad Strikers took on Mathias Bourge of Chennai Stallions in the Men’s Singles category which ended 12-8 in favour of Nikki Poonacha. The match was followed by the Men’s Double category in which Nikki Poonacha and Sriram Balaji of Finecab Hyderabad Strikers took on Mathias Bourge and Anirudh Chandrashekhar of Chennai Stallions which ended 14-6. In Mixed Doubles Sriram Balaji and Conny Perrin of Finecab Hyderabad Strikers drew with Anirudh Chandrashekhar and Ekaterina Kazionova in a game that ended 10-10. Nikki Poonacha of the Finecab Hyderabad Strikers was awarded the player of the match award for his excellent performances in the tie against the Chennai Stallions.

At the end of Day 1 of the Tennis Premier League last year’s champions Finecab Hyderabad sit at the top of the table with 48 points followed by Chennai Stallions with 47 points and in third place are Gujarat Panthers with 45 points. Delhi Binny’s Brigade and Pune Jaguars sit 4th and 5th respectively with 40 points apiece. Mumbai Leon Army sit 6th with 35 points, followed by Punjab Tigers that amassed a total of 33 points on Day 1. Bengaluru Spartans sits at the foot of the table with 32 points. With everything to play for over the next 2 days of the round robin stage of the Tennis Premier League, Day 2 promises to be even more action-packed.