Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], September 3 : Ace paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal led the way with a dominating performance as Chennai Lions thrashed Puneri Paltan Table Tennis 12-3 to record the biggest win in UTT history and reach the threshold of the semi-finals of the Ultimate Table Tennis 2024 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai on Tuesday.
Courtesy the historic victory, the home team soared to the fourth spot on the league table with 37 points, the same as third-placed Athlead Goa Challengers, who are ahead as they have won three ties, one more than the Chennai Lions. Puneri Paltan Table Tennis remained at the sixth spot with 31 points.
This result meant that if Jaipur Patriots win this season's final league tie against Ahmedabad SG Pipers on Wednesday then Chennai Lions will qualify for the semi-finals. But if the Ahmedabad-based franchise wins by eight points or more, the home team may get knocked out, a release said.
Chennai Lions exploded right off the blocks, piling up an insurmountable 9-0 lead by winning the first three matches without dropping a single game. Veteran war horse Sharath put Chennai Lions off to a rip-roaring start with a 3-0 (11-7, 11-6, 11-2) drubbing of talented 17-year-old Ankur Bhattacharjee in the first men's singles. Sharath stamped his class and authority all over the match. Several of his shots were simply unplayable, leaving the young Ankur clearly out of his depth.
Poymantee Baisya did well to blank the dangerous Ayhika Mukherjee 3-0 (11-10, 11-9, 11-10) in the first women's singles, clinching two Golden Points along the way. The match was a much tighter affair than the one-sided scoreline suggests, with Ayhika putting up a stiff fight in each game even as Poymantee held her nerves to emerge victorious.
That handed Chennai Lions a 6-0 lead and the home team continued their rampaging ways by claiming the mixed doubles match with another 3-0 margin as the formidable pair of Sakura Mori and Sharath thrashed Natalia Bajor and Anirban Ghosh 3-0 (11-3, 11-8, 11-8) to put the issue beyond any doubt.
Jules Rolland maintained the unbeaten run for the Chennai Lions, beating Joao Monteiro 2-1 (11-7, 2-11, 11-3) in the second men's singles.
With the Chennai Lions needing to win another two games to seal their spot in the knockout stage, Natalia broke the hearts of the home crowd as she broke Sakura's unbeaten run this season with a 2-1 (11-10, 8-11, 11-3) verdict in the second women's singles. However, that proved to be too little, too late for Paltan Table Tennis as far as this tie was concerned.
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