Dates: 12th and 13th October 2019
Venue: Mayo Hall Sports Complex.
We gratefully acknowledge all the support and efforts put in by IC Member Mr. Deepak Bhargava to make this fixture a memorable one.
As many members might recall, Allahabad has a rich tennis history dating back to the early 1900’s. From hosting the All India Tennis Championships in 1910 to the prestigious Central India Lawn Tennis Tournament, Allahabad was front and center of the tournament calendar. Tennis legends Ramanathan Krishnan, Jaidip Mukerjea, Premjit Lal, Amritraj Brothers, Ilie Nastase, Niki Pilic have all graced the event in its heyday. Mr. Deepak Bhargava and his family have played host to several players from across the world during the Central India Lawn Tennis Tournament. This tradition still continues as he and his family laid out the red carpet for the visiting and local players.
A total of 9 teams participated in the doubles event. The teams were chosen by a random draw of lots. The age range of the players was 18 to 62 years, with all players being well versed in making the ball dance to their tune. The ball was subject to all types of spin and speed, with the young and the old complementing each other perfectly. It was decided by mutual consent that an innovative match format be tested.
Everyone had to play with everyone else in a round robin match format Each team was to play a total of 8 matches.
Daunting when you first think of it given the time frame of one weekend with two tennis sessions planned. In order to ease some of the apprehensions, it was decided a shorter match format be deployed. Each match was to be a total of 5 games, with all 5 games to be played out. The team with maximum number of games at the end of their respective 8 matches would be declared the winner.
True to IC tradition and IC India’s commitment of spreading the game and promoting junior development, the Allahabad tennis fraternity and IC India took the initiative to organise a tennis clinic prior to start of the matches. 85 aspiring juniors received valuable lessons for life.
The matches started at 4pm with some surprising initial results. Clearly the match format was testing each teams mettle. At the end of the first day, all teams were separated by a razor thin margin, with barely a few points separating them. Each game was being well contested with each team using all the spins and tricks it could muster up. The ball merrily danced to their tune unaware of the tensions it was building up for the final day.
The tensions lightened up at night over a few drinks and tikkas. Mr. Aditya Agarwal of Hotel Yatrik hosted a fine evening for all the tennis maestro’s. The next morning saw a boat ride on the Sangam with a visit to the Bade Hanuman Ji temple.
The stage was set was the final evening of matches. The unexpected and surprising outcome of matches continued. Finally after a grueling two days, Mr. Deepak Bhargava and his young partner prevailed with a razor thin margin of 1 game over Dr. Abhishek and Aadarsh.
The final point table and positions are as follows:
1. Deepak Bhargava and Sanskar. Total points 26.
2. Abhishek and Aadarsh. Total 25 points.
3. Sanjeev Kassal and Aditya Narain. Total 23 points.
4. Ankur Agarwal and Nand Lal. Total 21 points.
5. Aditya Agrawal and Akshat. Total 20 points.
6. Jaideep Bhatia and Rohit. Total 19 points.
7. Vineet Aggarwal and Anurag. Total 18 points.
8. Aman and Shiv Shankar. Total 16 points.
9. Rishi Sharma and Piyush Bhargava. Total 12 points.
We would like to thank the entire Allahabad Tennis Fraternity for hosting one of the best IC Domestic Events. They have set the benchmark for IC Domestic Events.
