Ahmedabad, June 6 Indian table tennis’s power couple, Harmeet Desai and Krittwika Sinha Roy, steered reigning champions Dempo Goa Challengers to a 10-5 victory over PBG Pune Jaguars in the Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) Season 6 on Friday. Goa’s triumph, their second of the campaign, saw them leapfrog U Mumba TT to reach the top of the table, with three ties on the board.
Staged under the aegis of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) and promoted by Niraj Bajaj and Vita Dani, UTT continues to grow as a premier professional league. All 23 ties, over 16 action-packed days, will take place at Ahmedabad’s EKA Arena.
Dempo Goa Challengers got off to a perfect start with Harmeet extending his unbeaten singles streak to three matches, edging past Alvaro Robles in a tight 2-1 win that included two Golden Point finishes.
Krittwika, returning to the lineup, followed it up with a composed 2-1 victory over South Korea’s Zion Lee, who was making her UTT debut in place of the injured Dina Meshref. The mixed doubles saw Harmeet and Zeng Jian combine seamlessly to overpower Anirban Ghosh and Zion Lee 3-0, including a dramatic comeback from 5-9 down in the final game to win it 11-9.
Pune tried to mount a response through Ghosh, who produced a gutsy performance to beat Tiago Apolonia 2-1. But Zeng Jian slammed the door shut in the final match, ending Reeth Rishya’s unbeaten run with a 2-1 win that capped a clinical all-around performance for their reigning champions.
Harmeet and Zeng were named the Indian and the Foreign Players of the Tie, respectively, while Ghosh claimed the Shot of the Tie award for his superb forehand return in the singles rubber against Apolonia.
In the UTT Juniors, U Mumba TT sealed a 6-3 win over Jaipur Patriots to finish top of the table, with Ananya Muralidharan starring in both singles and doubles. In the day’s first tie, Divyanshi Bhowmick led Stanley’s Chennai Lions to a narrow 5-4 victory over Ahmedabad SG Pipers. The semifinals are now set: U Mumba face Jaipur Patriots once again, while Dempo Goa Challengers take on Kolkata ThunderBlades.
Result:
Dempo Goa Challengers 10-5 PBG Pune Jaguars
Harmeet Desai bt. Alvaro Robles 2-1 (11-10, 11-9, 10-11)
Krittwika Sinha Roy bt. Zion Lee 2-1 (11-5, 7-11, 11-6)
Harmeet Desai/Zeng Jian bt. Anirban Ghosh/Zion Lee 3-0 (11-9, 11-5, 11-9)
Tiago Apolonia lost to Anirban Ghosh 1-2 (9-11, 11-8, 7-11)
Zeng Jian bt. Reeth Rishya 2-1 (10-11, 11-7, 11-4)
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