Kendrapara Contenders were crowned champions in the 1st Odisha Tennis Premier League (OTPL), beating Sambalpur Shooters 3-1 in the final at Kalinga Stadium here today. The champion team, comprising Chandra Sekhar Mohanty, Rahul Kumar Mohanty, Sudhanta Sekhar Mohanty and Rutuparna Choudhury became richer by Rs 1 lakh, while the runners-up side, consisting of Sathirtha Patnaik, Lalatendu Barma, Biswajit Das and Ameek Kiran Batth took home Rs 50,000.
Bharata Rakhya Mancha National Convener Murali Sharma, Retd IAS Officer Pramod Kumar Patnaik and Industrialist Trilokya Nath Mishra graced the closing ceremony as guests and gave away the prizes. Tournament director Dilip Kumar Mohanty and ITF referee Prabin Kumar Nayak were present on the occasion.
The franchised-based, market-savvy and professionally-managed OTPL, involving eight teams and 32 players, started earlier on November 19. Organised by Delhi-based Nilachal Tennis Academy (NTA), under the stewardship of its Odia director Dillip Mohanty, the five-day event was inaugurated by senior bureaucrat-cum-Odisha Tennis Association secretary Madhusudan Padhi.
One of the three parts of Kalinga Stadium tennis complex, the venue of OTPL, featuring four refurbished synthetic courts, wore a festive look with banners and hoardings of teams, franchise owners and sponsors flooding the entire arena. However, the start of the tournament got delayed for more than an hour as Sports Minister Chandra Sarathi Behera failed to turn up as the chief guest of the opening ceremony.
Entry restriction for spectators was another issue that denied adequate visibility of the event. Though there was no entry fee for spectators, restriction imposed by State Sports & Youth Services Department for the upcoming Men’s Hockey World League, caused difficulty to reach the tennis complex.
RESULTS:
League match No 1: Khordha Warriors beat Kendrapada Contenders 4-1. Men’s singles-1: Sangram Kumar Patra (KW) bt Rahul Kumar Mohanty (KC) 7-3. Women’s singles: Rutuparna Choudhury (KC) bt Henamika Karina Sahu (KW) 7-0. Men’s doubles: Chinmay Pradhan-Abhijeet Pradhan (KW) bt Chandra Sekhar Mohanty-Sudhanta Sekhar Mohanty (KC) 7-2. Mixed doubles: Chinmay Pradhan-Henamika Karina Sahu (KW) bt Chandra Sekhar Mohanty-Rutuparna Choudhury (KC) 7-6(5). Men’s singles-2: Chinmay Pradhan bt Sudhanta Sekhar Mohanty 7-3.
League match No 2: Bhadrak Victors beat Puri Wavers 3-2. Men’s singles-1: Kumar Anurag Saran (BV) bt Bibek Mahananda (PW) 7-2. Women’s singles: Anaam Almas (BV) bt Ayesha Swain (PW) 7-0. Men’s doubles: Asutosh Das-Kumar Anurag Saran (BV) bt Lalit Dash-Santosh Malik 7-3. Mixed doubles: Santosh Malik-Anaam Almas (PW) bt Manoj Kumar Nayak-Ayesha Swain (BV) 7-1. Men’s singles-2: Asutosh Das bt Santosh Malik 7-6(5).
League match No 3: Cuttack Conquerors beat Sundargarh Veerans 3-2. Men’s singles-1: Jayesh Mangela (CC) bt Swostik Satyakam Pradhan (SV) 7-5. Women’s singles: Shilpi Swarupa Das (SV) bt Aneesha Mukherjee (CC) 7-0. Men’s doubles: Sunil Paei-Adarsh Sahoo (CC) bt Ajay Kumar Nishank- Swostik Satyakam Pradhan (SV) 7-4. Mixed doubles: Sunil Paei-Aneesha Mukherjee (CC) bt Shilpi Swarupa Das-Suraj Sahu 7-1. Men’s singles-2: Ajay Kumar Nishank (SV) bt Adarsh Sahoo (SV) 7-3.
League match No 4: Angul Acers vs Sambalpur Shooters. Men’s singles-1: Aditya Satpathy (AA) bt Biswajit Das (SS) 7-1. Women’s singles: Ameek Kiran Batth (SS) bt Ankita Panda (AA) 7-0. Men’s doubles: Kabir Hans-Aditya Satpathy (AA) bt Sathirtha Patnaik-Lalatendu Barma (SS) 7-4. Mixed doubles: Sathirtha Patnaik-Ameek Kiran Batth (SS) bt Aditya Narayan Guru-Ankita Panda (AA) 7-1. Men’s singles-2: Kabir Hans (AA) bt Satirtha Patnaik (SS) 7-3.
FINAL: Kendrapara Contenders beat Sambalpur Shooters 3-1. Men’s singles: Sudhanta Sekhar Mohanty bt Biswajit Das 6-0, 6-3. Women’s singles: Rutuparna Choudhury bt Ameek Kiran Batth 7-6(5), 6-3. Men’s doubles: Sathirtha Patnaik-Lalatendu Barma bt Chandra Sekhar Mohanty-Rahul Kumar Mohanty 6-1, 6-3. Mixed doubles: Chandra Sekhar Mohanty-Rutuparna Choudhury bt Sathirtha Patnaik-Ameek Kiran Batth 6-1, 6-3.
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TOP: Players of champion Kendrapara Contenders with guests and offials in Bhubaneswar on Nov 23, 2017.
RIGHT: Players of Sambalpur Shooters with the runners-up trophy in Bhubaneswar on Nov 23, 2017.