Shaze Challengers edged closer to a semi-final spot in Ultimate Table Tennis, beating Maharashtra United 15-12 in a closely fought tie at New Delhi’s Tyagraj Stadium on Monday. Andrej Gacina got the ball rolling for Challengers as he brushed aside Harmeet Desai to seal a win in straight sets with the score reading 11-6, 11-9, 11-5. Gacina won two matches to put Shaze Challengers ahead 7-5.

However, Fu Yu, ranked 37 in the world, staged a come-from-behind win over world no 135 Mouma Das of Shaze Challengers 2-1 (5-11, 11-7, 11-7) in the women’s singles to secure DHFL Maharashtra United’s first points in the tie (2-4).

The third match was mixed doubles and Harmeet Desai and Liu Jia of DHFL Maharashtra United won the first two games 11 -5 and 11-2 before Soumyajit Ghosh and Petrissa Solja pulled one back 11-7 to keep Shaze Challengers ahead at 5-4. Gacina then put it across Portuguese world no 48 Joao Monteiro 2-1 (11-6, 11-9, 7-11) in the men’s singles to give Shaze Challengers an edge.

The nail-biting finish to the contest saw German Han Ying of the Challengers dispatching Pooja Sahasrabudhe in straight sets. Ying then went on to get the better of Fu Yu in a match that finished 11-7, 11-5, 8-11 in favour of the former. The win helped the Challengers side steal a march over their opponents.