The big guns: Mavericks rose to the occasion in the summit clash.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Vishnu Vardhan and Arina Rodionova played a vibrant mixed doubles match to beat Maria Timofeeva and Anirudh Chandrasekar 14-6 that helped Bengaluru SG Mavericks to a 41-28 victory over Bengal Wizards in the final of the fifth edition of Tennis Premier League on the charcoal grey courts of the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex on Sunday.
The teams were level after the two singles matches, won by Timofeeva against Arina and Ramkumar Ramanathan against Sriram Balaji at 20-20. Arina rose to the challenge in the mixed doubles match which witnessed many arguments and disputed calls. Arina and Vishnu were able to stay focused and take the match away from the Bengal team with their imaginative play and crisp execution.
Thereafter, it was a simple task of winning seven points in the men’s doubles match. Ramkumar and Vishnu cruised to 7-2 win over Sriram Balaji and Anirudh who had done remarkably well to take the team this far.
It was celebration time for the Bengaluru team with coach M. Balachandran as mentor. The team was truly dominant right through after the 39-41 loss to Punjab Patriots in the first match of the league.
For her energetic performance in the final, Arina Rodionova was declared the ‘player of the match’
The champion was presented ₹15,00,000.
The results: Final: Bengaluru SG Mavericks bt Bengal Wizards 41-28 (Arina Rodionova lost to Maria Timofeeva 9-11; Ramkumar Ramanathan bt Sriram Balaji 11-9; Arina & Vishnu Vardhan bt Timofeeva & Anirudh Chandrasekar 14-6; Ramkumar & Vishnu bt Balaji & Anirudh 7-2).
Semifinals: Bengaluru SG Mavericks bt Delhi Binny’s Brigade 41-35 (Arina Rodionova bt Sahaja Yamalapalli 11-9; Ramkumar Ramanathan bt Dennis Novak 12-8; Arina & Vishnu Vardhan bt Sahaja & Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan 11-9; Ramkumar & Vishnu vs Dennis & Jeevan 7-9).
Bengal Wizards bt Punjab Patriots 41-32 (Maria Timofeeva bt Conny Perrin 12-8; Sriram Balaji bt Digvijay Pratap Singh 14-6; Timofeeva & Anirudh tied Conny & Arjun Kadhe 10-10; Balaji & Anirudh vs Digvijay & Arjun 5-8).