Gujarat’s Manush draws highest bid player in GSL

GSTTA

Gujarat: Gujarat Manush Shah and national champion Akula Sreeja were the top draws at the closely contested auction for the inaugural season of Gujarat State League (GSL) that was held in Surat.

The showcase tournament organised by Gujarat State Table Tennis Association (GSTTA) will be held in Ahmedabad.

The Season One League has 8 different teams each from the state with each team having an auction wallet of Rs 2.75 Lakh.

Vadodara lad Manush drew the biggest attention among the teams. The southpaw, whose base price was Rs 30,000, finally sold at Rs 1.11 lakhs with Anand’s Top Notch Achievers going all out to grab him.

Such was the faith in Manush’s ability that he pipped top India players – Harmeet Desai and Sanil Shetty – in terms of bidding price.

Hyderabad’s Sreeja was understandably the biggest draw in the women’s section. The 23-year-old, whose base price was Rs 30,000, was finally pocketed by Bhavnagar’s Bhayani Stars who paid Rs 96,000 to secure her services.

Soham Bhattarcharya of Ahmedabad recently migrated from Kerala State was the highest sold Gujarat Male Player at Rs. 80,000/- to the Team Kataria Kings, Ahmedabad. Whereas, Filzah Fatema Kadri of Surat was the highest solf Gujarat Female Player at Rs. 86,000/- takers were Tapti Tigers, Surat

Pratha Pawar, the Ahmedabad youngster who rose to fame with some scintillating performances in state tournaments, got the highest bid in the under-17 category. She was pocketed by the R World Royals of Gandhinagar, who paid Rs 40,000 for the youngster’s services. And the duo from Aravalli, Armaan Shaikh and Janmejay Patel were the highest in Junior Boys (U-17) category with the bid price of Rs. 46,000/- each taken by Team Topnotch Achievers, Anand and Shamal Squad, Surat respectively.

“It was good to see that the cumulative amount of wallet of all teams i.e Rs 22,00,000/- being utilized by all franchisees in purchasing the players. This initiative will motivate players to work more hard in the coming days,” GSTTA president Vipul Mittra, IAS said.

“The league is an opportunity for the state players to rub shoulders with some of the best players in the country. This league will not only help players learn and gain experience from some of the top players in the country but will also help popularize the sport in the state,” Mr Mittra, IAS, added.

List of Teams is attached herewith.

The amount spent by each team on the players are as follows:

1. Rs. 2,54,000 by Bhayani Stars (Bhavnagar). The highest bid of the team is India Female Player Sreeja Akula (Telangana) and Gujarat’s Rank No. 1 player Ishaan Hingorani.

2. Rs. 2,67,000 by Kataria Kings (Ahmedabad) spent their wallet mainly on Soham Bhattacharya, the Gujarat Male player with the bid price of Rs. 80,000 and they have Indian Junior Sensation Yashaswini Ghorpade from Karnataka.

3. Rs. 2,61,000 by R World Royals (Gandhinagar) have thoughtfully spent and grabbed the best players, highest bid of Rs. 75000 on National Champion and currently India No. 1 (Tied) Sanil Shetty India Male player from Maharashtra and Padma Shri Awardee, National Champion Mouma Das of Bengal at the bid of Rs. 74000.

4. Rs. 2,69,000 by Mutimet Marvels (Ahmedabad), have grabbed India’s one of the best player from Gujarat, Harmeet Desai with a bid price of Rs. 93,000.

5. Rs. 2,51,000 by Shamal Squad (Surat) though having been very economical of all the teams have made a good bunch of players, with a highest bid of Rs. 72,000 on Manav Thakkar, India Male player of Gujarat,. The team also have got hold of Janmejay Patel (Aravalli) , U-17 Boys.

6.  Rs. 2,73,000 by Tapti Tigers (Surat), have Reeth Rishya (Maharashtra), the winner of Ecuador open bid at Rs. 87,000 and their very own Filzah Fatema Kadri with a bid price of Rs. 86,000.

7. Rs. 2,71,000 by Top Notch Achievers (Anand) grabbed Manush Shah with a wholesome amount of Rs. 1,11,000, they have also got their hands on Chitrax Bhatt bid Rs. 24,000, Armaan Shaikh (Aravalli) Bid Rs. 46000. They have grabbed some of the best players of Gujarat.

8. Rs. 2,68,000 by WinAsia Dazzlers (Kutch) got Soumyajit Ghosh (Two Time Olympian), Ankita Das (Olympian), while Kausha Bhairapure (Ahmedabad), Himansh Dahiya Bid Rs. 13000.

All the teams have bid the best price money and accumulated the best players in each team. Which team will put up their best performance can only be known after the team start battling each other and give a strong adrenaline rush to the audience.