Fliers fly high at the STCJ Table Tennis Twizzle 2025

STCJ Airoli is slowly and steadily creating a reputation of being one of the top parishes in the entire Mumbai Diocese when it comes to Intra and Inter Parish Sports & 25th May 2025 adds another chapter to our book of historic sporting events; this time with a team Table Tennis Event - The STCJ Airoli Table Tennis Twizzle. 4 teams were made via a fun auction on the 11th of May as our 4 capable & commanding captains took charge to form the best team possible for a very interesting team format with 2 singles and 1 doubles game. Team Spartans consisted of Joseph Dcosta (C) along with Ashley Coutinho, Aryan Colaso and Prabhakar Shelke. Team Butterfly consisted of Augustine Fernandes (C) along with Elita Lobo, Selwyn Santmajor and Niel Lobo. Team Titans consisted of Pratik Shelke (C) along with Ronald Menezes, Austin Fernando and Savaryson Nadar. Team Fliers consisted of Ajit Fernandes (C) along with Dennis David, Jitto George and Jeffrin Fernandez.

After some great practice sessions and a lot of dedication by each team, we decided to shift the venue to a professional Table Tennis Club at Mulund - Kalidas. Each team was ready to show what they were capable of and this wasn't just a game which was played on the table, but also a game which was played with your mind since all captains had to submit their lineup without knowing who they will be facing in every single game. Team Fliers took down Team Spartans 2-1 and Team Titans took down Team Butterfly 2-1 in the opening round of games. Round 2 saw Team Fliers beating Team Butterfly 2-1 and Team Titans beating Team Spartans 2-1. The final league round had a lot of excitement, drama and thrill, however, Team Fliers managed to secure a spot in the finals despite losing 1-2 to Team Titans. Team Spartans and Team Butterfly were eliminated from the tournament after losing some fairly close games. The finals was a best of 5 games (3 singles and 2 doubles) between Team Titans and Team Fliers & once again there were some mind games which came into play. Both teams sent their doubles players to start the first singles match and Jitto from Team Fliers defeated Austin from Team Titans in a very close game to give Fliers a 1-0 lead. The doubles match of the tournament was next up as it was Pratik/Ronald vs Ajit/Dennis (2 unbeaten captains and the 2 players with the highest bid) & it went down till the 3rd set with Fliers again coming out on top and taking a 2-0 lead in the finals. It was Pratik v Dennis in game 3 and this game went down till the 3rd set with Pratik managing to get Titans back in the finals with the score now at 2-1 in favor of Fliers. Game 4 saw a repeat of the league doubles game between these teams with Austin/Savy against Jitto/Jeffrin, however, the result of this one would be different from the result of the league game. After 3 long and hard fought sets, it was Fliers who won this doubles encounter and managed to secure the victory for their team. The 5th game was no longer needed as Team Fliers had won 3-1 against Team Titans to be crowned the first ever champions of the STCJ Airoli Table Tennis Twizzle.

It was yet another incredible team tournament and considering the rising levels of Table Tennis amongst our parishioners, it is safe to say that we will see a lot of Table Tennis Tournaments on a Parish and Deanery level soon.