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Photograph: Tennis Premier LeagueAhead of the highly-anticipated sixth season of the Tennis Premier League (TPL) powered by Clear Premium Water, the eight franchises came out all guns blazing at the auctions at Sahara Star, Mumbai on Wednesday.
The star-studded evening saw the presence of the tennis icons Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza, who gathered together after many years to promote the sport, along with Bollywood celebs Rakul Preet Singh and Sonali Bendre.
After an intense four rounds of bidding that saw plentiful twists and turns, all the teams assembled highly competitive rosters, featuring a mix of fascinating talent from across the globe.
The 22-year-old Armenian rising star Elina Avanesyan, who will be competing in the tournament for the first time, earned the highest bid of INR 42.20 Lakh from Priyesh Jain-owned and Taapsee Pannu-backed Punjab Patriots.
Despite facing a stiff competition from other teams, Patriots fought tooth and nail to rope in the World No. 47 player in their squad from the Diamond category, showcasing their intent for the title. Punjab managed to lock in Arjun Kadhe from the Men’s Platinum Category at the base price of Rs 5 Lakh, and played strategically in the final round of auctions, waiting late till the end to buy Mukund Sasikumar for Rs 6.80 Lakh.
The defending Champions Bengaluru SG Pipers bought the second-most expensive player of the evening, roping in two-time Grand Slam mixed doubles title winning Australian Max Purcell for Rs 42 Lakh. The Rohan Gupta-owned franchise, who has Indian Tennis icon Mahesh Bhupathi’s as the CEO for SG Sports, entered late into the bid for Purcell, but outbid their oppositions to reserve his services.
Bengaluru bought Olympian Ankita Raina for Rs 5 Lakh to further bolster their squad and doubled down on their intent to buy doubles specialists by roping in Anirudh Chandrasekar for Rs 4 Lakh.
The last year’s finalists Bengal Wizards owned by Mr. Yatin Gupte and backed by Indian tennis legend Sania Mirza, formed a solid squad once again by buying Croatian tennis star Petra Matric, who has won two singles tour on the WTA tour in her career, at her base price of Rs 35 Lakh.
Saving money in the kitty, the Wizards performed magic in the second category of players, by playing their Right to Match card for veteran star Sriram Balaji and earned his services for Rs 6.20 Lakh, earning much applause from the crowd for the brilliant strategic play.
Bengal bought Niki Poonacha for Rs 3.80 Lakh to close out their squad on a high, winning yet another close battle in the final round of the evening.
The TPL tees off at the iconic Cricket Club of India in Mumbai in association with the All-India Tennis Association (AITA) and Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA). The Innovative Tennis League will run from 3rd December 2024 till the 8th of December 2024.
