17/05/2026
National champions Mundhe and Adkar headline MSLTA Annual Scholarships 2025
Mumbai, 17th May 2026: National champions Parthsarthi Arun Mundhe and Vaishnavi Adkar, alongside leading international players from the state including Manas Manoj Dhamne, Akanksha Nitture, Arnav Vijay Paparkar, Aishwarya Dayanand Jadhav and Myra Rizwan Shaikh, along with other top-performing players on the national and state circuit, were awarded scholarships and awards. Seven Maharashtra coaches were also honoured for producing national champions at the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA) Annual Scholarships Function 2025 held in Mumbai.
The awards ceremony was graced by Shri Shrikar Pardeshi, IAS, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, along Hon Secretary of AITA Sunder Iyer MSLTA President Mr. Prashant Sutar, MSLTA Chairman Mr. Bharat Oza, Vice President Mr. Rajeev Deshpande, MSLTA Hon. Treasurer Mr. Sudhir Bhiwapurkar, and MSLTA Joint Secretaries Mr. Rajiv Desai, Mr. Nikhil Sampat and Mr. Sheetal Bhonsale. Also present on the occasion were MSLTA Council Members Mr. Vijay Naidu, Mr. Shiv Mor and Mr. Ali Panjwani, Former International Gaurav Natekar and other representatives.
A total scholarship amount of over Rs. 9.5 lakhs was distributed under various scholarship schemes including the Ravibhau Ranade Scholarship for National winners and runners-up, the Dr. Ulka Natekar Scholarship for the top two Mens players, the Mrs. Nalini Hattikudur Scholarship for the top two Womens players, the Madhav Annigeri Memorial Scholarship for the Best Player of the Year, MSLTA Coaching Scholarships for players ranked among the top five in AITA rankings and the top three players in Maharashtra, along with special awards for Maharashtra coaches.
Parthsarthi Arun Mundhe of Solapur was one of the top award winners after clinching the National Under-18 Singles title at Chennai, National Under-16 Singles title and doubles title at Delhi. Mundhe was also named the Most Outstanding Junior Player from Maharashtra State for the year 2025 under the Madhav Annigeri Memorial Scholarship.
Vaishnavi Adkar of Pune was felicitated for winning the Women’s National Singles title at Delhi and for finishing as the No.1 ranked women’s player in Maharashtra. Akanksha Nitture finished as runner-up at the Women’s Nationals and was honoured as Maharashtra’s No.2 ranked women’s player.
Manas Manoj Dhamne and Atharva Sharma were awarded the Mrs. Ulka Natekar Scholarships for being Maharashtra’s top ranked men’s players, while Vaishnavi Adkar and Akanksha Nitture received the Mrs. Nalini Hattikudur Scholarships for topping the women’s rankings in the state.
Other leading Maharashtra players honoured on the occasion included Arnav Vijay Paparkar, Shivtej Shirfule, Swanika Roy, Mannan Agarwal, Aarav Mulay, Smit Undre, Laqshya Tripathi, Raghav Sarode, Aarav Chhallani, Shravee Deore, Shlok Aland, Adira Bhagat, Trisha Bhosale, Sejal Jadhav and Swaraj Dhamdhere for their performances at the national and state level tournaments during the season.
Trophies were also presented to the finalists of the MSLTA Masters 2025 tournaments in the Under-10, Under-12 and Under-14 categories held at Kolhapur Sports Association, MSLTA Mumbai and EMMTC Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar respectively.
MSLTA also rewarded Maharashtra coaches Hemant Bendre, Kedar Shah, Sandeep Kirtane, Ravindra Pandey, Ketan Dhumal, Sagar Kadam and Parth Chivate for producing national champions and finalists during the year.
Nashik District Tennis Association was declared the Best Performing District in Maharashtra for the year 2025 for its contribution towards the promotion and development of tennis in the state.
