Ahmedabad: Table-toppers Dabang Delhi TTC prolonged their unbeaten start to Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) Season 6 on Sunday with an 11-4 win over PBG Pune Jaguars. Earlier, Kolkata ThunderBlades reignited their playoff hopes with a 9-6 win over reigning champions Dempo Goa Challengers.
Dabang Delhi started the final double header of the season strong as Izaac Quek outclassed Alvaro Robles in the opening two games before the Spaniard pulled one back. Maria Xiao followed up with another 2-1 win against Taneesha Kotecha on her UTT debut despite the Pune youngster impressing with a gritty final game comeback.
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Xiao then continued their unbeaten mixed doubles run, edging Robles and Reeth Rishya 2-1 to give Delhi firm control. Sathiyan followed up with a 2-1 win over Anirban Ghosh to seal the tie, before Diya Chitale wrapped up the night with a commanding 3-0 sweep over South Korea’s Zion Lee, collecting the Indian Player of the Tie award in the process. Xiao claimed the Foreign Player of the Tie honour, while Anirban walked away with another Shot of the Tie distinction.
Earlier, with Ankur Bhattacharjee, Quadri Aruna, and Adriana Diaz all winning their singles rubbers, Kolkata ThunderBlades pulled off a 9-6 win over reigning champions Dempo Goa Challengers. Aruna handed Harmeet Desai his first singles loss of the season in a thriller, while Diaz followed with a ruthless 3-0 sweep of Krittwika Sinha Roy, capped by a show-stopping rally that earned her Shot of the Tie.
Ankur and Diaz then edged Harmeet and Zeng Jian in doubles for their first win as a pair. Ankur returned to defeat Ronit Bhanja in the decider, staying unbeaten this season. Zeng closed the tie with a 3-0 win for Goa, adding crucial points on the board. Ankur and Diaz were named Indian and Foreign Players of the Tie.
It was double delight for Kolkata ThunderBlades, as they claimed the inaugural title at the Dream UTT Juniors–a joint initiative by IndianOil UTT and Dream Sports Foundation–earlier in the day, with a 5-2 win over U Mumba TT. Ritvik Gupta started the final with a win in the singles rubber, before combining with Swara Karmakar to help Kolkata into a 4-2 lead. Swara secured the remaining point in her match to seal the title. Kolkata walked away with the INR 2 lakh prize for first place, while U Mumba earned INR 1 lakh as runners-up.
Final Scores
Kolkata ThunderBlades 9-6 Dempo Goa Challengers
Quadri Aruna bt. Harmeet Desai 2-1 (10-11, 11-10, 11-6)
Adriana Diaz bt. Krittwika Sinha Roy 3-0 (11-1, 11-4, 11-6)
Ankur Bhattacharjee/Adriana Diaz bt. Harmeet Desai/Zeng Jian 2-1 (11-10, 9-11, 11-7)
Ankur Bhattacharjee bt. Ronit Bhanja 2-1 (10-11, 11-10, 11-1)
Selena Selvakumar lost to Zeng Jian 0-3 (4-11, 6-11, 4-11)
Dabang Delhi TTC 11-4 PBG Pune Jaguars
Izaac Quek bt. Alvaro Robles 2-1 (11-5, 11-4, 4-11)
Maria Xiao bt. Taneesha Kotecha 2-1 (11-5, 11-5, 9-11)
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran/Maria Xiao bt. Alvaro Robles/Reeth Rishya 2-1 (11-10, 11-9, 4-11)
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran bt. Anirban Ghosh 2-1 (11-8, 11-3, 4-11)
Diya Chitale bt. Zion Lee 3-0 (11-5, 11-8, 11-8)
(IANS)
