Sutirtha Mukherjee of U Mumba in action against Divya Chitale of Dabang Delhi in the UTT League in Chennai on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: R. RAVINDRAN
Debutant Ahmedabad SG Pipers tasted its first win of the Ultimate Table Tennis League season-5, when it put it across defending champion Goa Challengers 10-5 here on Saturday.
Lilian Bardet put up a brilliant performance to beat Harmeet Desai 3-0 in the opening men’s singles. Later, Bernadette Szcos, ranked 13 in the world, proved to be too good for 19-year-old Yashaswini Ghorpade as the Romanian won 11-6, 11-7, 11-3.
Ahmedabad effectively sealed the tie in the mixed doubles match. Needing to win just two games to close out the contest, Manush Shah and Bernadette fought back a tough challenge from Harmeet and Yangzi Liu to win 2-1.
Earlier, U Mumba, searching for its first title from two appearances, made a resounding start to its campaign, with a clinical 9-6 win over former champion Dabang Delhi.
Despite G. Sathiyan’s upset 2-1 win over World No. 20 Quadri Aruna of U Mumba in the opening men’s singles match, Dabang couldn’t sustain the momentum as it lost three matches in a row: the women’s singles (0-3), the mixed doubles (1-2) and the men’s singles (1-2).
The contest between Sathiyan and Aruna provided a sumptuous fare to those who watched it. The Nigerian blew away the Indian in the first game with his forehand topspins. However, Sathiyan came back strongly to win the next two games. The Dabang paddler proved to be excellent in neutralising Aruna’s attack with his trademark blocks and forehand winners.
U Mumba’s Sutirtha Mukherjee, a solid and attacking player, outplayed Diya Chitale 3-0 in the second match. Diya was subdued for the most part, and was unable to impose herself in long rallies. Normally a compact paddler with good copy-book strokes on either flanks, Diya was erratic and committed far too many unforced errors. When she did try to force her way, it was too late.
U Mumba won the third match, too, as the mixed doubles duo of Manav Thakkar and Maria Xiao defeated Sathiyan and Orawan Paranang 2-1.
Manav Thakkar of U Mumba in action against Andreas Levenko of Dabang Delhi in the UTT League in Chennai on Saturday.
| Photo Credit:
R. RAVINDRAN
In the second men’s singles tie Manav beat Andreas Levenko 2-1 as he took his team to the winning total of eight points. Dabang pulled one back through Orawan Paranang when she beat Maria Xiao.
The results:U Mumba bt Dabang Delhi 9-6 (Quadri Aruna lost to G. Sathiyan 11-4, 9-11, 9-11; Sutirtha Mukherjee bt Diya Chitale 11-6, 11-7, 11-4; Manav & Maria Xiao bt Sathiyan & Orawan Paranang 11-8, 11-9, 8-11; Manav bt Andreas Levenko 11-5, 11-4, 7-11; Maria lost to Orawan 11-10, 9-11, 5-11).
Ahmedabad SG Pipers bt Goa Challengers 10-5 (Lilian Bardet bt Harmeet Desai 11-6, 11-9, 11-6; Bernadette Szocs bt Yashaswini Ghorpade 11-6, 11-7, 11-3; Manush & Szocs bt Harmeet & Yangzi Liu 4-11, 11-10, 11-9; Manush bt Mihai Bobocica 11-7, 11-7, 10-11; Reeth Rishya lost to Yangzi Liu 6-11, 5-11, 5-11).
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