The third edition of Ultimate Table Tennis got off to a thrilling start on Thursday, with debutants Puneri Paltan overcoming Dabang Delhi TTC, by a solitary point in an exciting encounter.
Going into the last match of the day with the overall scores tied 6-6, Germany’s Sabine Winter showed no signs of nerves as she overcame Romania’s Bernadette Szocs 2-1 to clinch that crucial extra point.
India’s top-ranked player G Sathiyan produced a stellar performance, beating Harmeet Desai in the men’s singles and then paired up with Szocs to win two matches overall and clinch five points. But that was not enough as Paltan won both the women’s singles ties and the second men’s singles.
Ayhika Mukherjee began Paltan’s campaign on a positive note, comfortably beating Krittwika Sinha Roy, picking up the 3 points on offer in the first match. She seemed to be in a bit of bother as she fell behind 4-6 and 9-10. She, however, saved the golden point and won one more to take the game.
She was on a roll in the second game, jumping to a 6-2 lead to win it rather easily. The third game was, however, tight, with Krittwika taking her all the way to another golden point tussle. Ayhika, fresh from her victory in the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championship in Orissa, held her nerve to win all the points for her team.
Puneri Pultan’s gambit of unleashing Harmeet against Sathiyan didn’t come off, with the latter exacting revenge for his defeat in the Commonwealth TT last week. The clash, however, lived up to expectations with both engaging in long, exciting rallies.
World No 24 Sathiyan just didn’t give Harmeet any time to settle down, winning the first game 11-3; he, however, couldn’t maintain the pressure in the second and ended up losing 9-11. The decider proved to be a thriller, with the scores locked at 8-all. Sathiyan captured the next two points before wrapping it 11-9.
The Indian star player then combined with Romania’s Szocs to pocket the three points. They beat Chuang Chih Yuan-Ayhika Mukherjee 3-0.
The second men’s singles match too was equally riveting, with Sweden’s Jon Persson and Taiwan’s Chuang Chih-Yuan putting up a great exhibition of attacking table tennis.
Chih-Yuan did justice to his World Ranking of No 28, showing his class to quell Persson’s spirited challenge 2-1. He, however, yielded the third game to give Paltan a valuable point.
Dabang Delhi TT lost to Puneri Paltan TT 7-8
Women’s Singles: Krittwika Sinha Roy lost to Ayhika Mukherjee 0-3 (10-11, 6-11, 10-11)
Men’s Singles: Sathiyan Gnanasekaran beat Harmeet Desai 2-1 (11-3, 9-11, 11-9)
Mixed Doubles: Sathiyan- Bernadette Szocs beat Chuang Chih-Yuan-Ayhika Mukherjee 3-0 (11-6, 11-7, 11-7)
Men’s Singles: Jon Persson lost to Chaung Chih-Yuan 1-2 (7-11, 8-11, 11-9)
Women’s Singles: Bernadette Szocs lost to Sabine Winter (5-11, 11-7, 9-11 )