Is top draw at MSL auction

Mamata Prabhu

Mamata Prabhu, 2010 Commonwealth Games silver medallist, stole the show during the 11SPORTS’ Mumbai Super League player auction at the National Sports Club of India on Wednesday as she was picked for a record price by King Pong.

The 35-year-old Mamata, who is also the reigning state table tennis champion, was the top draw during the auction where the 10 franchises had to pick six players from six different categories (Men, women, junior boys, junior girls, cadet boys and veterans) from a pool of 90.

Last year’s finalists King Pong raised the stakes for Mamata and eventually netted her for Rs 427500, an alltime high in the Rs 4-lakh prize money league which is in its fourth season.

The previous highest was Rs 38000 bid by MTC Royals to pick Nishad Shah last season.

The fourth edition of the MSL conducted by 11SPORTS under the auspices of the Mumbai City District Table Tennis Association and Mumbai Suburban District Table Tennis Association will be played at the NSCI from May 23-26, 2018.

The other top picks during the action were: Siddhesh Pande (Rs.40000) by Kool Smashers, Shruti Amrute (Rs.37500) by Supreme Fighters, Divya Deshpande (Rs.37000) High Tide and Sanish Ambekar (Rs.36000) by Century Warriors.

The 10 franchises: The Topspinners, King Pong, ACE, Blazing Bashers, Century Warriors, High Tide, Kool Smashers, MTC Royals, Phantom Stars and Supreme Fighters – are drawn in two groups of five teams each.

The top two toppers from the group after a league phase will play the semi-finals.