Legendary Indian tennis player Rohan Bopanna made his debut in style in the Tennis Premier League (TPL) with wins in mixed doubles and men’s doubles for his franchise Rajasthan Rangers.
Bopanna first combined with Christina Dinu defeating Vijay Sundar Prashanth and Ekaterina Kazionova with a scoreline of 14-11 in mixed doubles category of the TPL Season 6 that commenced at the Cricket Club of India (CCI), tennis courts on Tuesday here.
Later, in the men’s doubles category, the pair of Bopanna and Arthur Fery emerged victorious against Sumit Nagal and Vijay Sundar Prashanth with the scoreline reading 15-10, helping the Rajasthan Rangers win the game 57-43.
Bopanna gave good account of himself to consolidate lead after her mixed doubles partner Dinu defeated Ekaterina Kazionova 14-11 in the Women’s Singles category. Arthur Fery of the Rajasthan Rangers got the better of Gujarat Panthers’ Sumit Nagal with the same scoreline (14-11) in the Men’s Singles.
Hyderabad Strikers and Bengal Wizards headlined the second match on day one. Harriet Dart and Kamilla Rakhimova got things underway, with the former winning 18-7 in the Women’s Singles category. In the Men’s Singles category, Benjamin Lock overcame a tough contest against Niki Poonacha with a scoreline of 16-9.
The Mixed Doubles category saw Harriet Dart and Vishnu Vinod go up against Kamilla Rakhimova and Sriram Balaji. Bengal Wizards clinched a thrilling encounter with the score at 13-12. Despite Niki Poonacha and Sriram Balaji getting the better of Benjamin Lock and Vishnu Vinod with the score at 14-11 in the Men’s Doubles category, Hyderabad Strikers won the match 57-43.
The opening ceremony earlier featured legendary Indian player Leander Paes, along with Bollywood actresses Sonali Bendre, brand ambassador of the Chennai Smashers, and Taapsee Pannu, co-owner of the Punjab Patriots, who attended their teams' opening games.
TPL Season 6 has eight teams competing against each other.
Co-founders Kunal Thakkur and Mrunal Jain expressed their excitement about the start of TPL's sixth season.
“We are all excited for the sixth edition of TPL. The journey has been very good so far, and we hope to make this season bigger and better. I wish luck to all the players and the teams,” Kunal Thakkur said.
