Mysuru veteran TT players excelled at the N.S. Singh Memorial Karnataka State Veteran Ranking TT Tournament conducted by Mysuru Veterans and Hebbal TT Academy under the auspices of KVTTC in Mysore University Pavilion, Mysuru on Dec. 11 and 12.

N.S. Singh was a medallist TT veteran player and the Past President of Mysore District TT Association, who passed away recently and his family sponsored this tournament in his memory. Mysuru veterans had a fair share of medals in the tournament.

Dr. B.R. Sainath Iyer (Mysuru) walked away with the 75+ Men Singles gold though he had to face a stiff challenge from Mallikarjuniah in a league match. Mallikarjuniah bowed down to Dr. Sainath in the final game of the match at 9-11 score.

Sushila Devi Pillay, Mysuru, got a silver against the gold medallist Bhavana Gopal, retired employee of Canara Bank, Mangaluru.

Dr. Shantharam, Prasanna Kumar and Ashok Dahibati, all from Mysuru, got bronze for their semi-final positions in their respective events.

Dr. Shantharam surprised the audience with his consistent attacking game while Prasanna Kumar was a veritable with his good defence.

Srishaila and Lakshminarayana, both deserve a mention as players originally from Mysuru but now settled in Bengaluru.

They fondly remember their days of TT in Mysuru in yesteryears. Srishaila enjoyed his matches in Mysore University Pavilion where he had played TT for years in those days!

Mahesh Nayak, from Bengaluru, was a surprise packet by beating the invincible multi-gold medallist Vishu Botta in 65+ Men Singles event in semi-final and went on to beat another Champion, Srishaila in final to take the 65+ title gracefully. Mahesh Nayak deserved the ‘Outstanding Performance of the Tournament’ trophy, which he got. However, the organisers announced Mahesh Nayak as the winner of the trophy on Saturday evening itself when the best of Sunday matches were yet to be played!

RESULTS

Men’s Singles 80+: S. Gopalan – Winner; K. Satyanarayana – Runner-up; Men’s Singles 75+: Dr. B.R. Sainath Iyer (Mysuru) – Winner; M.A. Krishnaswamy – Runner-up; Men’s Singles 70+: Udayashankar Rao – Winner; K.S. Sridharan – Runner-up; Lakshminarayana and Prasanna  Kumar (Mysuru) – Semi-finalists; Men’s Single 65+: Mahesh Nayak – Winner; S. Srishaila – Runner-up; Dr. Shantharam (Mysuru) and Vishu Botta – Semi-finalists; Men’s Single 60+: Shivahonnaiah – Winner; Mauras Anthony – Runner-up; M. Sasidharan and Y. Gangadhar – Semi-finalists; Women’s Singles 60+: Bhavana Gopal – Winner; Sushila D. Pillay (Mysuru) – Runner-up; Men’s Singles 50+: M.K. Shivakumar – Winner; K. Chandrashekar – Runner-up; D.P. Gopinath and Vinodh Venki – Semi-finalists; Men’s Singles 40+: Vasudev Kallapur – Winner; Bhaskar Mysore – Runner-up; U.N. Ramkumar and J. Royston – Semi-finalists; Doubles: C.R. Satyajit & Sid Prasad – Winners; Robin D’souza & Prashant Jois – Runners-up; S.S. Sundeep & Ashok Dahibati and Kuppa Rao & R.P. Ravindra – Semi-finalists; Outstanding Player of the Tournament: Mahesh Nayak (65+).