PG Joygaon Giants, the champion team of the Legends Tennis League in Delhi.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Anav Vadehra and Mohit Phogat defeated Aditya Khanna and Arjun Uppal 18-12 to record a thrilling 128-127 victory for PG Joygaon Giants over Rebound Ace India in the final of the Legends Tennis League at the Modern School courts, Barakhamba Road.
In a format featuring players from the over-30 to over-60 age-groups apart from women in the over-30 singles and mixed doubles, Rebound Ace shone bright in the five-team competition till the semifinals. Ace had beaten Giants 140-115 in the league stage.
In the final too, Ace led 67-38 after the first six matches, with Arnav Alok, Arjun Uppal, Aditya Khanna and Dilip Mohanty dominating the matches. However, Giants fought back thereafter through Manish Aggarwal, Alok Bhatnagar, Pawan Jain, Monica Menon and Syed Babar Zaidi to bridge the gap.
Before the last doubles match, Ace led 115-110 and needed 13 points out of maximum possible 30 and Anav and Mohit won 18 points to secure a memorable victory.
In the last eight matches, only Chandra Bhushan managed to win for Ace, defeating Alok Bhatnagar 8-7. Giants won the rest, securing 90 points from its last eight matches as against 60 by its opponent.
The results, final:
PG Joygaon Giants bt Rebound Ace India 128-127 (Anav Vadehra lost to Arnav Alok 4-11; Mohit Phogat lost to Arjun Uppal 5-10; Anav & Mohit lost to Arnav & Arjun 7-8; Rohan Narayan lost to Aditya Khanna 3-12; Syed Zaidi lost to Dilip Mohanty 5-10; Rohan & Babar lost to Aditya & Dilip 14-16; Manish Aggarwal bt Vikram Kapur 8-7; Alok Bhatnagar lost to Chandra Bhushan 7-8; Manish & Alok bt Vikram & Bhushan 18-12; Pawan Jain bt Arun Aggarwal 12-3; Pawan & Manish bt Arun & Dilip 10-5; Monica Menon bt Sonal Vohra 9-6; Monica & Babar bt Sonal & Arnav 8-7; Anav & Mohit bt Aditya & Arjun 18-12).
Semifinals: Ace bt Royal Deccan Tuskers 143-97; Giants bt Aviraj Warriors 120-105.