Schedule of the prestigious Deccan Gymkhana Tournament Released

The following is the schedule of the Pune District Prize Money tournament to be held at Deccan Gymkhana, Pune from Oct 01 to Oct 03 2010. The main sponsor is Godrej Properties. Please click the Image to see it in bigger size.

The tournament has attracted a record number of entries and International players like Aniket Koparkar and Martand Biniwale are also expected to participate. Other prominent players include national level players like Rohit Chaudhari, Shubhankar Ranade, Upendra Mulye, Devika Bhide, Sruja Bhat, and Manasi Chajjed. The matches will be played at the State of the Art newly inaugurated hall in the new wing at Deccan Gymkhana campus. The Chief Referee of the tournament will be Mr. Madhukar Lonare.

Meanwhile, here is a photograph of the talent at Deccan Gymkhana.

Promising kids at Deccan Gymkhana with their Chief Coach, Rohit Chaudhari and Coach Manoj Phadke

Player Profile: Achanta Sharath Kamal

 Sharath about to unleash his deadly topspin

Sharath Kamal definitely stands tall and belongs to the all-time greats of Indian Table Tennis players. 

His seemingly laid back attacks combined with his tremendous reach and power are a force to reckon with. Even the very top players of the world now respect Sharath. He is at an all time high at the moment and we hope he continues to maintain his standard of play and reach higher.

Name: Sharath Kamal

Date of Birth: July 12, 1982

Club: San Sebastian de los Reyes

Coaches/Trainers: A Muralidhara Rao, A Srinivas Rao

Ambition: Best is yet to come

Achievements: 

Winner, US Open 2010

Winner, Egypt Open 2010

Winner Commonwealth Games 2006, Melbourne

Highest World Ranking No. 39

Gold Medal at Commonwealth Championships at Glasgow

Pro Tour winner at Delhi

Represented India at Olympics

Arjuna Awardee
Multiple National Championship Winner

Table Tennis Player Profile - Aman Balgu

Aman with the Inter-University trophy 2007-08

Aman is probably one of the fittest players on the Table Tennis circuit. His full-blooded strokes aided by his fleet feet makes him stand apart from the crowd immediately.

Aman blossomed gradually and achieved success in 2009 at the senior level.

Name: Aman Balgu

Date of Birth: July 19, 1989

Club: Andheri YMCA, Matunga Gymkhana

Coaches/Trainers: Deepak Mani, Kamlesh Mehta

Ambition: To win a medal for India at the Olympic Games

Achievements: 

Gold Medal at SAF Games - Team Event in 2009

Represented India at the Asian Championships

Silver Medal at Senior Nationals in Team Events 2009

Gold Medal - All India Inter-University 2009

State Champion - Youth and Men's Singles at Sangli 2009

Hobbies: Playing many sports, Catching up with friends, and Music.

August TT ratings for Maharashtra

The August ratings for the top players of Maharashtra are out. The big move is by Aniket from 2360 to 2395 owing to his performances at the State tournaments this season. Sanil too has cemented his position at the top by stellar performances at the National level and the Indian open. Balgu has disappointed so far but we expect a lot from this youth.


The big mover in the list is Martand Biniwale, who has played beyond his expected rating and has jumped right behind Rohit Chaudhari. If he continues to produce results that he has displayed this season, he could easily challenge the top 6. This youth is the one to watch for sure!


 Most of the others retain their ratings since they have played to expected strength.

Sanil Shetty wins US Open U-21 Crown

Maharashtra's star player, Sanil Shetty won the prestigious US Open title for Boys U 21. India earned more bragging rights when juniors Spoorthi and Utkarsh Gupta won the U 13 Girls and Boys titles.

Sharath Kamal progressed to the semi-finals of the blue ribbon event, the Men's Singles. He will also figure in the Men's doubles semi-finals along with partner Subhajit Saha. Subhajit lost in the Quarters, while Anthony Amalraj too made an exit in an earlier round but not before giving a big scare to the top seed, Keinath Thomas.

Koparkar Scores and Emphatic Title Win

Aniket Serves with intense concentration in this file photo

Pune's Aniket Koparkar, won the 3rd State Ranking Tournament at the University Pavilion (Marine Lines). In the finals, he beat top seed Aman Balgu of Mumbai 4-0 (Details to follow).

What is more heartening is that Koparkar trashed his close rivals Balgu and Martand Biniwale (against whom he had a narrow loss last year) without losing a single game. This augurs well for the coming National tournament season that is soon slated to start.

Martand Biniwale won the Youth Boy's singles title, while Devdutt Phadnavis of Nagpur bagged the Junior Boy's singles title.

2nd State Ranking Tournament at Dombivali

 Sanika showing off her well-earned trophies in a file photograph

Sanika Divekar, Sanish Ambekar in the Sub Junior Girls and Boys, and Ajaysingh Patil and Shruti Amrute in the Cadet Boys and Girls won the first titles at stake at the 2nd State Ranking Tournament at Thane (Dombivali).

For detailed results, please visit the MSTTA results page

Sharath Shines Again

It was the mighty Sharath again at the Indian open TT tournament! When it mattered most, Sharath Kamal pulled off some big winners to beat Patrick Baum, ranked as high as 34 in the world. Sharath is currently ranked 91, so this win will bring big points.

Now his fans want more and let's hope that he pulls off another big win (albeit a very very difficult one) against the powerful World No. 13 Dimitrij Ovtcharov. The battle is expected to be a hard one with both being hard hitters. Ovtcharov with his double flank attacks and Sharath with his largely powerful forehand strokes promise a scintillating fare. Fans on Facebook are already thrilled with his current achievement. But we all know Sharath wants to go two steps further and make this his best pro tour achievement to date.

Launching First Unofficial Ratings List of Maharashtra Table Tennis Elite Players

 We are pleased to announce the first Unofficial Ratings List of Table Tennis Elite Players of Maharashtra.

Please note that this is not an official Rating or Ranking list. For the Official Rankings, please visit www.mstta.org or call MSTTA office for more details.

How to read the List:
Example: 3. Aniket Koparkar 2360
No. 3 in Strength is Aniket Koparkar at 2360 Rating (remember, it is not Ranking Points)

Notes:

The list has been prepared using a complex formula to come up with playing strength.

You will observe some potential discrepancies, for example, we truly believe Martand is much stronger than his current rating, but his activity and consistency require some improvement.

This Ratings list is subject to change without prior notice. We are in the process of gathering feedback from prominent personalities in the Table Tennis world.

Rating list is very different from Ranking lists. Ratings depict strength. Ratings Central is one famous rating list available on the internet for International players.

With a Ratings List, it is possible to compare the strength of play of any individual. So, in due course of time, we will have Women, Juniors and so on in the same list. One can compare for academic purposes, the playing strength of any player.

Player Profile: Arpit Bhopalkar

Arpit in Action Away from the Table

Name: Arpit Bhopalkar

Place: Indore, Madhya Pradesh (India)

Club: Happy Wanderers, Abhay Prashal

Coach/Trainer: Srikant Mandwikar

TT Achievements: 

World Railways (Moscow) Champion

World Railways Team Champions

Junior Nationals Bronze

Represented India in Asian Juniors

SAF Junior Gold Medal

Sr Nationals Quarterfinals

Ranked Jt No.1 in Cadet, No. 2 in Sub Juniors and No. 6 in Juniors

MP State Champion

Favourite Player: Jan Ove Waldner and Ryu Seung Min

Weapon of Choice: Forehand topspin

TT Ambition: To represent India (Senior team), to win medals at International level for India.

Hobby: Music, Playing Guitar, and Comedy.