Fist: India’s Ayhika Mukherjee, world No. 135, defeated world No. 26 Lily Zhang as Dabang Delhi TTC beat U Mumba TT 11-4 to record her second win in the ongoing IndianOil Ultimate Table Tennis Season 4 at Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Mahalunge-Balewadi in Pune on Monday.
The franchise-based league is promoted by Niraj Bajaj and Vita Dani under the auspices of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI).
Ayhika fought for every point and beat Lily of the USA 2-1 to lay the foundation for her franchise’s victory.
The first game saw a nail biting battle as Lily and Ayhika exhibited immaculate backhands to earn points. In the end, it was the American paddler who took the game via a golden point.
Both players continued their fighting spirit in the second game, which also favored Ayhika through a golden point. The West Bengal-born paddler showed tremendous mental toughness as she won the decider via golden point to clinch the match.
Earlier, Jon Persson defeated Manav Thakkar 3-0 in a thrilling contest. Manav seemed out of touch early on as Persson quickly made it within 10-2 in the opening game before Manav earned six straight points to wow the crowd. However, the Swedish paddler held on to win the first game 11-8 with an accurate forehand.
The second game also saw the Surat-based paddler making Persson sweat for every point before the Dabang Delhi TTC player took the game 11-8. Persson won the next game 11-7 with his incredible shooting on both flanks.
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Barbora Balazova defeated Manav and Lily 2-1 in the third match (mixed doubles) of the tie to further extend Dabang Delhi TTC’s lead. The first game went to the pairing of U Mumba TT 11-5 before Sathiyan and Barbora secured the next two 11-5, 11-8 to win the match.
World No. 18 Quadri Aruna defeated Sathiyan 2-1 in the penultimate heat, but was unable to save U Mumba TT from a defeat. Quadri won the first two games 11-6, 11-6 before the Indian paddler took the third 11-8 to lead his franchise to victory.
In the last match of the tie, Sreeja Akula beat Diya Chitale 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-8) to complete a perfect win for Dabang Delhi TTC.
All Season 4 ties, powered by DafaNews, start at 7:30 pm with broadcast on Sports 18 and broadcast on JioCinema. Tickets are available at BookMyShow.
Draw result:
Dabang Delhi TTC 11-4 U Mumba TT
Jon Persson 3-0 Manav Thakkar (11-8, 11-8, 11-7)
Ayhika Mukherjee 2-1 Lily Zhang (10-11, 11-10, 11-10)
Sathiyan/Barbora 2-1 Manav/Lily (5-11, 11-5, 11-8)
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran 1-2 Quadri Aruna (6-11, 6-11, 11-8)
Sreeja Akula 3-0 Diya Chitale (11-8, 11-9, 11-8)
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