By HOSHANG KATRAK (PG’s TT Secretary and Team Manager)

Returning to the prestigious Mumbai City District First Division Interclub Table Tennis tournament after a year’s gap, Parsee Gymkhana (PG) – which had dominated the First Division by winning the men’s and women’s gold titles for five consecutive years till 2024 – wasted little time in rediscovering its winning touch and making a strong impact. PG clinched the Gold in Men’s and the Silver in Women’s category.

There were no hiccups for the star-studded men’s team as they steamrolled past their opponents – the A and B teams of Garware Club House, CCI ‘A’ and Worli Sports Club ‘A’. Against the talented youngsters of CCI, PG won 3-1 but blanked the other opponents 3-0.

PG received a major boost with the inclusion of former international and Commonwealth Games player, Siddhesh Pande, who flew in from Nigeria to join Team PG. Siddhesh currently coaches and trains with India’s top-ranked paddler, Manav Thakkar. The men’s squad also comprised PG’s latest recruit – Gujarat No. 1 player, Chitrax Bhatt.

However, the law of averages finally caught up with PG as the Women’s team lost the finals by the proverbial whisker to Matunga Gymkhana.

The new format in women’s First Division had two groups of three teams each.  PG were drawn against Garware Club House ‘A’ and MLWB-KKB in group B, with Matunga Gymkhana, Worli Sports Club and Hindu Gymkhana in group ‘A’.

With PG topping their group (winning 3-0 against both opponents), they were up against front-runners Matunga Gymkhana who had the highly ranked 17-year-old Kavya Bhatt alongside the vastly experienced Shweta Parte. PG had Arjuna Awardee and Commonwealth gold medallist – former junior and senior National Champion (2006 and 2016) Madhurika Patkar.

In the first match, Madhurika blanked Shweta in 3 straight games putting PG ahead. Kavya then equalised by getting the better of Sukrati Sharma in 3 games. This made the doubles crucial, which MG won. In the fourth match, the first of the reverse singles, Madhurika played outwitted Kavya in five hard fought games.

In the final match, the first four games were shared by Sukrati and Shweta. The women’s finals were thus headed for the deciding fifth game, where Sukrati, who was leading 6-5, lost the match to Shweta and the women’s title to Matunga Gymkhana.

With fortunes fluctuating all the way, it was worthy of a final and witnessed by almost all present there. Comparatively late entrants to table tennis, PG’s status is a testament to the Gymkhana’s abiding motto of promoting and encouraging sports at various levels. And for this, President Mehli Golvala and his managing committee need to be commended for their support and encouragement!