Forward of the sixth season of the Tennis Premier League (TPL), the eight franchises got here out all weapons blazing on the auctions at Sahara Star, Mumbai on Wednesday.
The star-studded night noticed the presence of the tennis icons Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza, who gathered collectively after a few years to advertise the game, together with Bollywood celebs Rakul Preet Singh and Sonali Bendre.
After an intense 4 rounds of bidding, all of the groups assembled extremely aggressive rosters, that includes a mixture of fascinating expertise from throughout the globe.
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The 22-year-old Armenian rising star Elina Avanesyan, who might be competing within the event for the primary time, earned the best bid of INR 42.20 Lakh from the Punjab Patriots. Regardless of dealing with a stiff competitors from different groups, Patriots fought tooth and nail to rope within the World No. 47 participant in its squad from the Diamond class, showcasing its intent for the title.
Punjab managed to lock in Arjun Kadhe from the Males’s Platinum Class on the base value of Rs 5 Lakh, and performed strategically within the closing spherical of auctions, ready late until the tip to purchase Mukund Sasikumar for Rs 6.80 Lakh.
The defending Champion Bengaluru SG Pipers purchased the second-most costly participant of the night, roping in two-time Grand Slam combined doubles title successful Australian Max Purcell for Rs 42 Lakh. The Rohan Gupta-owned franchise, who has Indian Tennis icon Mahesh Bhupathi’s because the CEO for SG Sports activities, entered late into the bid for Purcell, however outbid its oppositions to order his providers.
Bengaluru purchased Olympian Ankita Raina for Rs 5 Lakh to additional bolster its squad and doubled down on its intent to purchase doubles specialists by roping in Anirudh Chandrasekar for Rs 4 Lakh.
The final yr’s finalist Bengal Wizards owned by Mr. Yatin Gupte and backed by Indian tennis legend Sania Mirza, shaped a stable squad as soon as once more by shopping for Croatian tennis star Petra Matric, who has gained two singles tour on the WTA tour in her profession, at her base value of Rs 35 Lakh.
Saving cash within the kitty, the Wizards carried out magic within the second class of gamers, by taking part in their Proper to Match card for veteran star Sriram Balaji and earned his providers for Rs 6.20 Lakh, incomes a lot applause from the gang for the good strategic play.
Bengal purchased Niki Poonacha for Rs 3.80 Lakh to shut out their squad on a excessive, successful yet one more shut battle within the closing spherical of the night.
Gujarat Panthers, owned by Ramku Patgir, showcased they’ve carefully studied the earlier years’ auctions and tournaments, and made large strikes on the auctions. The franchise made the blockbuster transfer to purchase star participant Sumit Nagal at his base value of Rs 35 Lakh, after which fought exhausting to purchase AITA ranked No. 1 feminine participant Sahaja Yamalapalli. Regaining her providers for Rs 7.80 Lakh, Gujarat additional purchased in doubles specialist Vijay Sundar with a excessive bid of Rs 11.5 Lakh to fizzle out the competitors.
Dr. Veekkas Mahamuni-owned Yash Mumbai Eagles spent heavy on bringing in skilled Romanian tennis star Jaqueline Cristian, who made her mark on the Paris Olympics this yr. The franchise showcased its intent to combat for the title because it roped in Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan who just lately claimed the doubles title on the Hangzhou Open 2024 tennis, incomes his first ATP title.
Mumbai as soon as once more needed to wage a protracted battle within the final spherical to safe providers of Karan Singh, however fought until the tip to make sure they can safe the gifted star of their roster.
Shrachi Delhi Rarh Tigers owned by Rahul Todi and backed by Leander Paes went massive for Indian veteran star Rohan Bopanna, regardless of robust combat from different franchises. Bopanna, who grew to become the oldest participant in historical past to earn World No. 1 rating after the Males’s doubles title win on the 2024 Australian Open, was an enormous win for Delhi, setting them up for the auctions for fulfillment.
Belarus’ Iryna Shymanovich was subsequent on Delhi’s radar, however as soon as once more the franchise confronted intense competitions from different franchise for the Belarus star. The long-drawn out bidding for Iryna additional cemented Delhi’s relentless pursuit of excellence forward of the season, and the franchise closed the proceedings with a fast purchase of 27-year-old Tunisian participant Aziz Dougaz.
The brand new franchise on the block Chennai Smashers, owned by Vipul Bansal of Hello-Tech Pipes and Dharmender Goel of Ganga Worldwide College, backed by Bollywood famous person Sonali Bendre, didn’t present any ounce of inexperience on the auctions, and made a sensible purchase for French teenager Hugo Gaston, who has garnered a lot consideration over time for his unorthodox type of play.
Chennai went for Swiss veteran Conny Perrin within the subsequent spherical to steadiness the youth with expertise after which roped in Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli, who has 2 challenger titles, 8 ITF titles to his identify.
Tennis Premier League Co-founder Kunal Thakkur expressed his happiness over the profitable auctions for Season 6 and stated, “We’re overwhelmed with the response obtained for the public sale and sincerely thank all of the workforce homeowners, ambassadors and mentors for coming collectively to make this occasion such an emphatic success. It was implausible to see the tennis legends Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza collect collectively after so a few years to advertise tennis in India and help the league.”
Mrunal Jain, co-founder of TPL, echoed the feelings and stated, “The thrilling bidding wars is what makes the auctions. In the present day, all of the groups executed their plans to perfection and didn’t accept something beneath excellence. The truth that the highest icons of Indian tennis fraternity – Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, and Sania Mirza – gathered for the auctions has already given the upcoming version a memorable begin and guarantees an thrilling season forward.”
The TPL tees off on the iconic Cricket Membership of India in Mumbai in affiliation with the All-India Tennis Affiliation (AITA) and Maharashtra State Garden Tennis Affiliation (MSLTA). The Revolutionary Tennis League will run from third December 2024 until the eighth of December 2024.