Former national level Table Tennis player. Freelance Writer in Fitness & healthcare. Sports Commentator & Film Critic.
View all posts by Ulhas Shirke →
As excitement builds, defending champions Mumbai Customs ‘A’ in the men’s category and Central Railway in the women’s division brace themselves to uphold their titles. Set against the backdrop of the Bandra Gymkhana tennis courts, illuminated by the vibrant glow of floodlights, the Bandra Gymkhana Annual Open Rink Hockey Tournament 2024 promises thrilling action from Monday, April 22.
Dr. Cheryl Misquitta (centre), President, Bandra Gymkhana is seen with the Central Railway women team, winners of the Bandra Gymkhana Rink Hockey Tournament 2023.
This year’s event boasts four riveting competitions: Men’s Open, Women’s Open, Boys’ under-14, and Girls’ under-14.
In anticipation of the event, Dr. Cheryl Misquitta, President of The Bandra Gymkhana, affirms the club’s commitment to nurturing a dynamic sporting culture. “At The Bandra Gymkhana, we’ve always championed the spirit of sportsmanship among our members,” she states. “With steadfast support from our Managing Committee, we remain dedicated to advancing sports and fostering the growth of athletes.”
Dr. Cheryl Misquitta emphasizes the club’s initiative to bolster emerging talent. “To empower young athletes, we introduced tournaments for both boys and girls last year,” she adds. “These platforms offer invaluable opportunities for our youth to showcase their abilities and gain recognition.”
The Men’s draw has attracted 18 teams and in the Women’s event 10 teams will be competing for the top honours. In the junior competition eight boys and 10 girls teams have confirmed their participation.
The matches will be played on a direct knockout basis and the grand finals will be held on Saturday, April 27.
The men and women winners and runners-up will be presented with handsome trophies and substantial cash prizes, while junior boys and girls will be awarded trophies. There would also be individual awards in all four categories.
The stage is set for a thrilling display of skill and unity as The Bandra Gymkhana prepares to host another spectacular Rink Hockey tournament.
Mumbai North constituency is one of the largest Loksabha constuencies of Maharashtra, covering fast developing areas like Borivali, Dahisar, Kandivali, Charkop and Malad. In this constituency we have seen popular BJP Parliamentarians like Ram Naik and Gopal Shetty completing two terms each. In short, this constituency is the stronghold of BJP. And therefore, this time for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls BJP have fielded popular and efficient Mr. Piyush Goyal- the Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs & Food & Public Distribution and Textiles, as their strong candidate. Incidentally, Mr. Goyal is a qualified Chartered Accountant and a Law graduate.
Mr. Piyush Goyal speaking at MCF Club Borivali in presence of MCF Club President Mr. Jambusaria( Ext- L) , Ms. Manisha Chaudhary MLA-Dahisar( Ext- R) and Mr. Sharma Secretary, MCF Club( 2nd from R) .Mr. Gopal Shetty seated on extreme left is not in this photo
So, obviously to welcome this popular personality, big societies and sports clubs from this constituency are inviting him to understand what are his plans for betterment of this constituency. Last week, Mr. Piyush Goyal was invited at the Mandpeshwar Civic Federation ( MCF) Club for an interaction with the club members. But, due to his busy schedule that evening, the programme was reduced to ‘Meet n Greet’ session in presence of Club’s President Mr. Jambusaria, Secretary Mr. Sharma, ex- MP Gopal Shetty and MLA of Dahisar Ms. Manisha Chaudhary.
In his short and sweet speech the Minister spoke about the good work done by his government during the past ten years and keeping the commitment of what their party had promised. He specifically mentioned about the streamlining of Banking sector , abolition of Article 370 and construction and inauguration of Ram temple after the historical Supreme court judgement.”Whatever progress you have seen in this country for the past few years is just a trailer, abhi Puri film baaki hai,” he hinted.
Speaking about his promises to people of this constituency, he said that he wanted to make Uttar Mumbai Uttam Mumbai. “I will do everything which is permitted as per the rules. BJP believes in clean governance.” He said. Replying to the request of expansion plans of the club to offer better facilities to its 5000+ members and their families, he said that he would offer all the help if the documents were proper and the club submits a concrete plan to also offer something to the poor and needy children in their sports promotion programme.
Finally, he appealed to all to exercise their franchise on the voting day. “Simply showing support to the candidate will not work, you have to cast your valuable vote for country’s progress.” He concluded.
A total commitment to the subject is very important for a film maker. And Randeep Hooda has succeeded in doing so, through his directorial debut film ‘Swatantrya Veer Savarkar’. This film is a biopic on the brave freedom fighter of India- Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, who played an important role in India’s freedom struggle. Randeep has not only played the title role of the brave freedom fighter effectively, but has also impressed as a writer & director of this film .
The aim of the film maker is very clear. He has shown the real struggle of Veer Savarkar during India’s Independence movement. In every scene we see the injustice upon him and other young freedom fighters, we realise their love and sacrifice for the country and at the same time the conviction of Ranveer Hooda in presenting such emotion filled scenes.
The film reveals many facts from the Indian history, which were not known to all of us. For that Randeep Hooda and his research team should get due credit. Generally, Biopics of renowned personalities are counted in the category of documentaries. But Randeep Hooda has given a perfect look of a feature film filled with emotions and strategies to counter the injustice, which impresses the audience. No wonder the audience watch this film with total involvement for almost three hours.
In this film we find Veer Savarkar’s interactions with other legendary freedom fighters and his ideology which invites the attention at every important situation in this film. The most important scenes in Cellular Jail have been shot with perfection. Performances of the artistes and above all their selection for the respective characters is simply superb. Randeep Hooda in particular, has poured his heart and soul in making this memorable film. This was possible only because the image of Savarkar is imbibed in his heart. It is a perfect tribute from him through this film to the legendary freedom fighter. Technically, it is a well made film with perfection in set/ costume design, sound desion and background music. All in all, it is a must watch film for all those who love their country.
Only last week she had bagged a Bronze medal at WTT Youth Contender at Tunis. And now, Divyanshi Bhowmick has bagged a Gold at the WTT Youth Contender in Algeria in Under -17 Girls event which concluded today. On the way to finals, she overcame top seed and reigning champion from Korea and also top players from France and Hongkong. This 13 year old School girl from Kandivali has been performing very well at the international level .
Divyanshi Bhowmick
During the year 2023 Divyanshi did exremely well in U-13, U-15 and U-17 Girls events at the local , national and international level and now she has continued her finest performance during this new year at international level; which is really remarkable. Her sportsloving parents have thanked all the team India coaches and her practice partners at Ace Table Tennis Club, for their motivation and guidance.
Jash Modi
Another youngster from Mumbai Jash Modi has also performed very well in this WTT Youth Contender at Algeria, bagging a Silver medal. Jash who played in the U-19 Boys Singles event defeated players from Hong Kong and Netherlands, before going down to Korean top seed player Kim Gaon in the finals.
India’s Shrivalli Bhamidipaty continued to play freely and fearlessly and produced another remarkable performance to outduel Viktoria Morvayova of Slovakia registering a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win in the second and final qualifying round match of the L&T Mumbai Open WTA 125K match on Centre Court at the iconic Cricket Club of India on Sunday.
Shrivalli is the lone Indian from the qualifying round to make it to the main draw. India’s Vaidehi Chaudhari lost to Amandine Hesse of France 3-6, 1-6, while wild card entrant Zeel Desai retired after losing the first set 7-5 against top seed Himeno Sakatsume of Japan on Centre Court.
A two-time Indian National champion, Shrivalli, started in the same aggressive fashion as in her first round straight-set win against second seed Valentini Grammatikopoulou from Greece on Saturday.
The 22-year-old Shrivalli, who had won her maiden ITF women’s title in Bengaluru in last November, with clever tactics quelled the fight from her Slovak opponent who bravely battled on despite encountering some discomfort at the start of the third set. After the third game Viktoria, tailing 0-3 took a medical time-out. She continued to take treatment during change-overs, but did not throw-in the towel. She carried on fighting and even broke Shrivalli in the seventh game and held serve in the next to narrow the lead to 3-5 before Shrivalli went on to close out the match with a fierce passing shot in the ninth game of the deciding set.
Lina Glushko of Israel, sixth seed Fanny Stollar of Hungary and Thailand’s Peangtarn Plipuech are the other players to qualify for the main draw, which will commence from Monday.
6-Fanny Stollar (HUN) bt Sohyun Park (KOR) 6-4, 6-3;
Peangtarn Plipuech (THA) bt Chia Yi Tsao (TPE) 6-3, 6-3.
About the L&T Mumbai Open WTA 125 Series
L&T Mumbai Open Tennis Championships is returning to Mumbai after a gap of six years, with reigning Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka winning the inaugural edition in 2017 as a teenager and Thailand’s Luksika Kumkhum winning the title in 2018.4
Known for his action packed entertaining films, Rohit Shetty has already established himself as a successful film maker in Hindi Film industry. Now, with his latest creation through seven episode web series ‘Indian Police Force’ he has made his entry with a bang on OTT platform. He has chosen the most important subject of countering terrorism, with a timely message to all.
‘Indian Police Force’ not only presents the challenges faced by Indian Police Force and their dedication to their duty to keep our nation safe; but also shows their emotions and disturbances faced by them in their personal life. At the same time, this series shows how some anti social elements provoke the victims suffered during riots to join their force, to turn towards terrorist activities.
The series has many renowned artistes like Suresh Oberoi, Siddharth Malhotra, Shilpa Shetty, Mukesh Rishi, Shweta Tiwari, Sharad Kelkar in lad roles. At the same time Rohit has given good scope to some talented artistes like Mrinal Kulkarni, Vaidehi Parshurami, Mayaank Taandon, Suchitra Bandekar and Sharvari Lohakare in prominent roles. Among them, Vaidehi has invited a lot of attention, with her brililliant performance. Vaidehi is not new to Hindi films, as we saw her in Rohit Shetty’s film ‘Simba’ playing a small role of the character -Aakruti Dave. But, in this series Rohit has offered her the best suited role of Nafeesa, which is in continuity and has plenty of scope to exploit her potential. In fact, all the artistes in this web series have given their cent percent, through their notable performances.
Vaidehi Parshurami
The appealing screenplay holds you to your seats from beginning till end. Action scenes and special effects match international standard and the locations selected for all the important scenes give a realistic look to every situation. The dialogues are well written and the background music is remarkable. Obviously, for creation of every scene there has been a lot of hard work by the entire team under the captaincy of the creator Rohit Shetty, who deserves full marks.
Certainly, a worth watch series, barring very few scenes, where rough language has been used, while dealing with the criminals. Action film lovers would certainly enjoy watching this action filled web series series, which is available on Amazon Prime Video.
Cheddanagar Football Fanatics had things much their way and romped to an emphatic 4-0 win against JMJ Sports Club in a one-sided Premier Division match of the Mumbai Football Association (MFA) League 2023-2024 and played at the Neville D’Souza ground, Bandra on Tuesday evening.
JMJ Sports Club’s midfielder Rishi Chhetri scored the first goal of the match when he punted the ball into his own goal to give Cheddanagar a 1-0 advantage. On the stroke of the half-time whistle Henderson Dias scored the second goal to help Cheddanagar go into the break with a 2-0 lead.
In the second session, Cheddanagar struck two more goals through a brace of goals from Shoaib Shaikh. The first was from a penalty conversion in the 67th minute and one more in open play in the 89th minute.
Earlier, Young Guns FC fought hard to overcome Skorost United FC by a narrow 2-1 margin. Strikers Dhruv Hegde and Krishnanshoo Bhatia were bang on target with a goal each for Young Guns, while Skorost United FC scored one through Bhupati Chandran.
Results – Premier Div: Cheddanagar Football Fanatics 4 (Shoaib Baig 2, Henderson Dias, OG-Rishi Chhetri) beat JMJ Sports Club 0.
Super Div: Young Guns FC 2 (Dhruv Hegde, Krishnanshoo Bhatia) beat Skorost United FC 1 (Bhupati Chandran).
Film maker Raj Kapoor’s super hit romantic film ‘Bobby’ has completed 50 years and this occasion takes us down memory lane to recall the success formula of this film. Today, besides the showman even the hero of this film –Rishi Kapoor is not there to witness 50 years of his film and so are other legends like Pran, Premnath, Durga Khote, Radhu Karmakar( cinematographer) and Laxmikant ( from Laxmikant Pyarelal music director duo). But, Dimple Kapadia who played the title role in this film will be happy to witness this happy occasion along with few others like Prem Chpra, Aruna Irani & Farida Jalal.
Even today, if this film is released in theatres, it will invite the young generation in large number. Those days, Filmfare awards were the only popular awards for appreciation and ‘Bobby’ had bagged five filmfare awards at the 21st Filmfare awards. These awards were for Best actor- Rishi Kapoor, Best actress- Dimple Kapadia, Best Male Playback Singer- Narendra Chanchal, Best Art Direction- A Rangraj & Best Sound Design- Allauddin Khan Qureshi.
The story of this film was about the love between teenagers from Mumbai belonging to different classes i.e.Raj ( Raj Nath) , the son of a rich Hindu businessman ( Pran) and Bobby Braganza (Dimple Kapadia) daughter of Jack Braganza( Premnath) a simple Goan Christian Fisherman. But, the gripping screenplay of this film written by Khwaja Ahmed Abbas and V.P.Sathe, supported by perfect direction of showman Raj Kapoor and eight memorable songs by music directors Laxmikant-Pyarelal invited all the attention of the audience.
He has struggled a lot to make it to the Finals of the Masters’ TT event for the past few years. It was his bad luck that he lost to some best players in the earlier tournaments, in spite of playing very well. But, this time he was all prepared to take on the challenges from his traditional rivals in this game. With his superb consistent forehand top spin attack, left hander Avinash Kothari won his first title in the Men’s 59+ Singles in the MMTTC 3rd Ranking Table Tennis tournament which concluded recently at Prabodhankar Thackeray Krida Sankul( PTKS), Vile Parle, Mumbai.
New Champ in Men’s 59+ Avinash Kothari ( R) greeted by Prakash Kelkar(L) who won Men’s 64+ Singles.
It wasn’t that easy this time for Avinash, who battled hard on his way to the finals in the main draw. Avinash first encountered the challenge from Sanjay Dhotre whom he beat 3-2 , followed by his successive wins in quarter finals over Rajesh Mudam 3-2 and then a well desrved win over Sarosh Shroff 3-2 in the semi finals. Both Sarosh and Avinash took the first opportunity to attack. But, Avinash played this match like a master, with a better control during long rallies. In the finals, Avinash faced National Masters’ Champion Anil Rasam and in a thrilling finish he won this match 3-2 to emerge the new 59+ Men’s Champion. Happiest person to watch him win this title was 8 times National Masters ‘ Champion Prakash Kelkar with whom he played for Kalidas, Mulund team and were Runners up in the Men’s 59+ team event, to claim a double.
Sameer Bhate(L) with Kiran Salian after their Men’s 49+ final match
Prakash Kelkar himself won the Men’s 64+ title in this tournament as predicted, making a hat-trick this season. Prakash beat Arun Dhotre comfortably with a margin of 3-0. In the Men’s 49+ Singles, we witnessed a good match between favourites Kiran Salian and Sameer Bhate with superb rallies. This match was won by Sameer Bhate 3-2. Sameer Bhate and Suhas Rane besides winning their individual singles titles also won the Men’s team Championship 39+ event for PTKS ‘A’ team, thus claiming a double. Earlier, Kiran faced his elder brother Naveen in semi finals, dropping a game to him and also to Ravindra Ekande in quarter finals. Sameer too had to drop a game to Tejas Naik in other semi finals. In the previous rounds Samir struggled to beat Amit Phadke from MCF Club 3-1 with the scores 11-6, 4-11, 11-4 & 12-10. He however, scored an easy win over Urvir Bhayani in the quarter finals.
Suhas Rane Men’s 39+ Singles Champ
The finals between Suhas Rane and Suraj Chandrashekhar in Men’s 39+ section, turned out to be anybody’s match in the initial stage, as both the players attacked well during long rallies. Suraj took the first game and raised hopes of his winning. But, Suhas recovered quickly to take the next three games and match, to win the title. Earlier in Semi Finals, Suhas dropped a game to Gurucharan Singh Gill , while Suraj struggled to beat Hormaz Pithawala 3-2, after being 0-2 down and then T.Ramkumar in five set match full of excitemet. Ram Kumar had earlier toppled top seed Vishal Yadav 3-1.
Yogesh Desai with his Men’s 69+ Singles and ‘Player of the Tournament’ trophies
In some other interesting closely fought matches in Men’s 39+ Singles, Anil Sarode beat 3rd seeded Ketan Palvankar 3-0. Pulkesh Gunlla beat 6th seeded Ashish Patankar; while Shashank Raghunath knocked out 5th seeded Sharad Sangelkar.
In Men’s 49+ Singles Ravindra Ekande with his strong backhand strokes overpowered the top spin attack of Santosh Jain and won the match 3-2, while Amit Phadke fought very well at crucial stage to win the decider and match against Jayesh Parmar in earlier rounds. Later, in pre quarter finals, Amit also gave a tough fight to second seeded Sameer Bhate, as after winning the second game on 11-4, he lost the fourth game narrowly on 10-12.
KRC ( KAKA) team Winners of Men’s 59+ team event
World Masters’ Champion in 70+ Yogesh Desai who won his Men’s 69+ title, also contributed a major share in his team’s ( KRC- KAKA) win over The Titans in semis and PTKS’A’ in finals . No wonder, he was presented with the ‘Player of the Tournament’trophy in memory of Late Shri.Narayan Salian. The other two special awards namely. ‘Upcoming Players of the tournament’ trophies were presented to Shashank Raghuraman and Pushpa Upadhyay. Salian family also donated Rs. 25,000/- to sponsor upcoming Junior from Mumba- Suburbs- Sagar kasture. The cheque was handed over to his brother.
Best Upcoming Player of the Tournament Pushpa Upadhyay receiving her prize from Chief Gust Ms. Ruchi Waigankar GM, JMD-Skoda Motors.
In the Women’s events, favourites Suhasini Bakre, Sadiya Vanjara, Swati Agharkar and Shravani Dhapre displayed their supremacy in their respective age groups, by winning the titles. They also worked very hard as members of the tournament committee, inviting new players to participate at the competitive level. And one of them namely Pushpa Upadhyay even received the award of ‘Best Upcoming Woman Player of the tournament’ Pushpa is trained by Atul Deshmukh from Thane.
All the Winners and Runners-up in different events pose with guests.
Ms. Ruchi Waigankar General Manager, JMD Skoda Motors and sister- in law of Ketan Palwankar was the chief guest and gave away prizes of few events. She had sponsored free towels for all the participants. Rajesh Singh a finest TT player also showed a fine gesture by presenting finest quality T shirts to all participants in this tournament. Among others, who were present as guests of honour were Dr. Nilesh Shah & Premjit Rananavare, Asst Sales Tax Commissioner and Mr. Rajan Waigankar ( Nephew of Late Govind Palwankar) .
The tournament was conducted very well ,offering freebies, including free tea, breakfast on the first day and free nutritious lunch and fruit drink, tea and biscuits to all the participants. Thanks to the combined efforts of all the players in making this tournament a grand success. MMTTC has also announced that their next tournament will be much bigger and interesting for the participants. All the Winners and Runners up received Gift hampers from Max Protein foods. Besides huge trophies, medals the winners, runners-up, semi finalists and also quarter finalists in the individual and team events which attracted more entries, received good cash prizes.
Entusiastic players in a happy mood during prize distribution ceremony
Reacting on the success of this tournament, Mr. Sameer Bhate Hon. Secretary of MMTTC said, “ I am extremely happy to see the wonderful support received from our players, who have come forward to raise the funds required for sponsorship and their response is growing with every new tournament announced. This speaks about the ‘Unity and Strength’ of all veteran players from Maharashtra. We are also happy that majority of the top players who have won Medals at the National and International tournaments in all age groups are playing our tournaments to show their trust in us.”
Dr. Nilesh Shah Special Guest ( 2nd from Left) with Mahesh Shetye, Milind Moghe & Anthony Gomes
The results of all Finals in detail are :
Men’s 39+/ 49+ Team Event : PTKS ‘A’( Sameer, Suhas, Abhilash) beat Team ‘Guru’( Guru, Ketan, Saurabh, Rajesh Singh) 3-1 ( Semi Finalists- : Team Elite- Siddhanchal ( Narendra , Sanil, Vishal) & Team NASA ( Kiran, Tejas, Naveen , Suraj)
World Veterans’ Champion Yogesh Desai put up a fine show today evening, when he won both his singles matchesto take his teamKRC( KAKA) into finals of Men’s 59+ Men’s team event against two times champions ‘TITANS’ ’at the 3rd Maharashtra Masters’ Table Tennis Committee (MMTTC) Championship at PTKS, Vile Parle. 71 year old Yogesh first defeated hard hitter Jogesh Motwani to give his team lead. However, the set score was levelled 1-1 when Atul Deshmukh beat Anil Rasam. Thereafter Titans’ doubles pair of Sarosh Shroff and Percy Mehta gave their team 2-1 lead winning the doubles. At this stage, Anil Rasam won his reverse singles fourth match defeating Jogesh Motwani to level the scores at 2-2. In the deciding match the World Masters’ Champ once again displayed his skills, to win against Atul Deshmukh to take his team into finals of Men’s 59+ team event.
Rajesh Singh presents T Shirt to Yogesh Desai
Earlier, in the Quarter finals, the well balanced Titans team represented by Jogesh Motwani, Percy Mehta, Atul Deshmukh & Sarosh Shroff had beaten Team V3, while KRC( KAKA) had beaten magzmumbai.com 3-1. In the other semi finals Kalidas ‘A’ represented by Prakash Kelkar and Avinash Kothari beat strong side of ‘Like Minded’ 3-1, with evergreen Prakash Kelkar winning both his singles.
( L to R) Tejas Naik, Prakash Kelkar, Rajesh Singh & Chaitanya Deshpande display the towel presented to all the participants.
Earlier, in a thrilling match in Men’s 39/49+ team event, Siddhanchal ‘A’ won against PTKS ‘B’ 3-2. In this match Manish Deodhar ( PTKS) who played his 3rd Singles match caused a major upset, when he defeated Men’s 40+ champ Vishal Yadav 3-1 to give his team 2-1 lead . However, in the deciding 5th match Chaitanya Deshpande who had earlier won his Singles match against Sanil Desai lost to Narendra S, which enabled Siddhanchal ‘A’ to progress into next round. In another well contested match in Men’s 39 & 49+ team event, Kalidas ‘B’ team beat ‘B’ team of ‘Siddhanchal’ .
From L to R) PTKS ‘B’ team players Hormaz Pithawala, Chaitanya Deshpande & Manish Deodhar with Siddhanchal Team players Narendra S, Sanil Desai & Vishal Yadav.
In the afternoon, good quality free T Shirts and Towels were distributed to all the participants besides offering free drinking water, tea and breakfast in the morning. Thanks to some of the players, who have voluntarily come forward to distribute these freebies. On Sunday MMTTC will be serving free lunch to all the participants. Tomorrow’s matches will begin at 9 am and finals of all the events will be played at 4.30 pm.
