Only few days ago, they lost their dear sister Former international Nandini Kulkarni. And on the 12th day of her departure, both of them battled hard at the 32nd National Masters’ TT championship at the Balewadi Sports Complex, Pune; to win the Men’s singles titles in the 75+ and 65+ groups respectively. This turned out to be a timely tribute to their sister, clearly indicating that ‘The show must go on’. It may be recalled that Satish and Jayant had lost their brother Suhas Kulkarni, also a former international TT player, during the corona pandemic.
Jayant Kulkarni receiving Men’s 65+Wiiner trophy from Smita Bodas & Mr. & Ms. Acharya.
Satish wasn’t feeling well before his final match and was advised rest. But, he was determined to win the title and clearly stated that he wanted to win and dedicate this title to his sister. He, however withdrew from the Men’s doubles event, on the request of his partner Pinakin Sampat, who advised him to take rest. Earlier, Satish led his Maharashtra team to victory with Gold, with his team members Pinakin Sampat, Dilip Kudtarkar and Ravindra Borkar.
From L to R : Satish Kulkarni( Capt), Pinakin Sampat ( with his grand daughter), Dilip Kudtarkar & Ravindra Borkar receiving Men’s 75+ team trophy from Ms. Smita Bodas.
Perhaps, watching the strong will power of his elder brother, Jayant too got inspired. While playing his quarter final match ofMen’s 65+ against Lalit Mohan Joshi from Uttarakhand, Jayant had almost lost this match trailing 0-9 in the deciding game. However, at this stage he kept his cool and when his opponent committed repeated errors, Jayant took advantage of this situation to level the scores at 10-10. Jayant won this decider 15-13.
Men’s 70+ Team Winners L toR: Jitu Mawani,Yogesh Desai, Shivanand Kundaje( Capt.) & Percy Mehta.
Jayant once again faced the challenge from renowned former National champ Prakash Kelkar in the finals, when he fought hard in the deciding game, saving three match points and thereafter winning the game and match to bag the Gold. Prakash Kelkar who had missed this Gold, went on to bag Gold medal in Men’s 65+ doubles, partnering Anil Rasam.
Anil Rasam & Prakash Kelkar Men’s 65+ doubles Winners
Besides this good show by Kulkarni brothers, another player from Mumbai, Rajeshwari Mhetre bagged a triple crown, winning the Women’s Singles 65+ age group , Women’s doubles 65+ partnering Mythili Sodhi and Mixed doubles partnering U. Kumbojkar. Rajeshwari also won another Gold for team Maharashtra , winning the Women’s 65+ team event.
Shivanand Kundaje Men’s 70+ Winner poses with his wife Leena.
However, the attention grabber of this tournament was tall and handsome left hander from Nashik Shivanand Kundaje in the Men’s 65+ age group. Shivanand the new State Champion from Maharashtra continued with his best form in this National championship. He beat his team mate Percy Mehta 3-0 in the semi finals and then went on to beat M.P. No. 1 Pramod Soni 3-1 in the finals displaying his forceful attacking game, to lift the coveted title. Shivanand, who also led the Maharashtra team in the 70+ event, helped his team bag gold in the company of Yogesh Desai, Percy Mehta & Jitu Mawani.
Rajeshwari Mhetre who won triple crown in Women’s 65+ group.
Another player who invited the attention of the spectators was unseeded Laxmanrao Thakre from Gujarat. With a good control over his variety of deceptive strokes, he successively defeated good players like Ashok Kalambe, Anuj Sharma and Purshottam Markad on his way to the finals. And, in the finals he surprised Vivek Alwani from Maharashtra, beating him in three straight games to claim the gold medal. Later, Thakre partnering Shalesh Gosain bagged his second gold medal.
Maharashtra team : Winners of Women’s 65+ team championship.
Bengal’s star player and former National Masters’ and World Masters’ Champion Mantu Murmu proved her supremacy, bagging two gold medals in the Women’s 60+ singles and Mixed doubles 60+ partnering V.K Arora. And the eldest competitor from 80+ age group, Srinivas Chalavadi from Karnataka also recorded two gold medals in his name. Besides winning his singles, he went on to win his second gold partnering Deshini Nath D in the Men’s 80+ doubles final, which they won against Maharashtra pair Subodh Deshpande & Satish Shirsat.
All the medal winners pose with their trophies and medals along with organisers and guests.
In the tream events, Maharashtra teams won four out of seven titles, winning the finals of Men’s 60+, Men’s 70+, Men’s 75+ and Women’s 65+ events. An unfortunate incidence took place during this tournament, when 65+ player from Tamil Nadu Mr. Louis Raj from suffered cardiac arrest .while playing his match. All efforts were made by the organisers to revive him with the help of doctor present at the venue. But, he breathed his last. A condolence meeting to pay homage to his departed soul was held in the hall next day, by observing 2 minustes silence.
Shivanand Kundaje with Suhas Dandekar – Winners of Men’s 70+ doubles
Overall, Maharashtra players dominated the first leg of 60+ categories and now all eyes on 2nd leg matches of 40+ categories which are going on at the Balewadi Indoor Stadium and will be concluded on 4th May 2026..
Results of all Finals ( Individual Events) :
Men’s Singles 60+ : Laxmanrao Thakre ( Gujarat) beat Vivek Alavani( Maharashtra) 3-0
Women’s Singles 60+ : Mantu Murmu ( Bengal)bt Rubi Kaur ( M.P.)3-0
Men’s Singles 65+ : Jayant Kulkarni ( Maharashtra) bt Prakash Kelkar ( Maharashtra) 3-2
Women’s Singles 65+: Rajeshwari Mhetre (Maharashtra)bt Rita Jain ( M.P.) 3-1
Men’s Singles70+: Shivanand Kundaje bt Pramod Soni ( M.P.) 3-0
Women’s Singles 70+ :Veena Joshi ( Maharashtra) bt B.K. Jain (Rajasthan) 3-0
Men’s Singles 75+ : Satish Kulkarni ( Maharashtra) bt Balbir Singh Virdi (Chandigarh) 3-0
Men’s Singles 80+ : Srinivas Chalavadi ( Telangana) bt Indresh Purohit ( Gujarat) 3-1
Men’s Doubles 60+ : Laxmanrao Thakre & Shailesh Gosain( Guj) bt Debasis Saha & Abir Basak ( Bengal) 3-1
Women’s Doubles 60+ : Rubi Kaur & Rashmi Jain ( M.P) bt Sandhya Patwa & Sandhya Somani( M.P) 3-2
Mixed Doubles 60+ : Mantu Murmu V.K. Arora ( Bengal) bt Anuj Sharma & Neeru Mehta ( Delhi) 3-2
Men’s Doubles 65+ : Prakash Kelkar & Anil Rasam( Maharashtra) bt Ravi Vashist & Anil Kumar Goel ( Delhi) 3-1
Women’s Doubles 65 & 75+ : Rajeshwari Mhetre & Mythili Sodhi ( Mah) bt Indu Sharma & Sunita Mudgil ( Delhi) 3-0
Mixed Doubles 65+ : U.Kambojkar & Rajeshwari Mhetre(Mah) bt Anil Kumar Goel & Indu Sharma( Delhi) 3-0
Men’s Doubles 70+ : Shivanand Kundaje & Suhas Dandekar ( Mah) bt Yogesh Desai & Percy Mehta ( Mah) 3-2
Men’s Doubles 75+ : Patanjali Kumar & Balbir Singh Virdi ( Chandigarh) bt Dev Agarwal & G.R. Kumawat ( Rajasthan) 3-0
Men’s Doubles 80+ : Srinivas Chalavadi& Deshini Nath D ( Telangana) bt Subodh Deshpande & Satish Shirsat ( Mah) 3-2.
Results of All Team Events Finals :
Men’s 60+ Teams : Maharashtra beat Tamail Nadu 3-0
Women’s 60+ Team Final Positions : M.P. (1), Gujarat (2), Maharashtra (3), Telangana(4).
Men’s 65+ Teams: Delhi beat Maharashtra 3-0
Women’s 65 &70+ Teams : Maharashtra beat Delhi 3-0
Men’s 70+ Teams: Maharashtra beat Delhi 3-0
Men’s 75+ Teams: Maharashtra beat Chandigarh 3-1
Men’s 80+Teams: Gujarat beat Karnataka 3-2