By Kirti Patil
Pune: India’s top-ranked male paddler Harmeet Desai celebrated his birthday in style by helping his team—Goa Challengers beat the table toppers U Mumba TT. Also joining him in annihilation of the so far unbeaten team, U Mumba, was Reeth Tenninson as Goa Challengers won over U Mumba TT 9-6, ending their unbeaten run in the IndianOil Ultimate Table Tennis Season 4 at the Badminton Hall of the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Mahalunge-Balewadi here on Wednesday.
The Chennai-born paddler, Reeth stunned Lily Zhang 2-1 (6-11, 11-6, 11-9) and Harmeet too won by the same scoreline against Manav Thakkar, winning 10-11, 11-7, 11-8.
The franchise-based league, promoted by Niraj Bajaj and Vita Dani under the auspices of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) has been a gamechanger for the sport since its inception in 2017.
Reeth struggled in the first game against Lily but quickly found her feet in the second game as she used her swift movements combined with precise backhands to make an astonishing comeback in the match. The third game saw an exciting contest between both paddlers, however, in the end, Reeth won it to clinch the tie for her side.
Harmeet faced a stiff challenge against Manav. The U Mumba TT’s paddler started the match with a bang and bagged the first game through game point. Harmeet made a comeback in the second game and won the following game as well to put his franchise in a comfortable position.
Earlier, the highest-ranked paddler in Season 4, Quadri Aruna of U Mumba TT produced a scintillating show in the first match (Men’s Singles) of the tie and defeated Alvaro Robles 2-1 to earn two valuable team points.
Robles started the tie on a positive note and gathered some quick points before Quadri came back all guns blazing and quickly took a healthy lead. He then won the first game by 11-6 with his ferocious forehands.
Diya Chitale, fought bravely in the second match of the tie (Women’s Singles) but lost 1-2 against Suthasini Sawettabut as the Goa Challengers’ paddler brought her franchise back into the game.
The Commonwealth medallist was fearless from the first game and played long rallies to push the World No. 39 to the edge. However, the opening game went in the favour of Suthasini 11-7. In the second game, the Mumbai-based paddler started on a positive note and went into the lead before Suthasini made a comeback with accurate returns combined with sparkling forehands to take the game 11-9.
Diya, The World No. 107 then brought her A-game to the table to startle Suthasini and pocket a crucial team point by winning the game (11-9) to register her strong presence in the league.
Then, Harmeet and Suthasini defeated Manav Thakkar and Lily Zhang 2-1 to bring Goa into the lead (5-4) for the first time in the tie.
The Goa Challengers’ pair showed superb coordination to take the first game 11-8 before using their experience to win the second by the same margin. Manav and Lily won the third game 11-7 to reduce the gap.
The Result:
Goa Challengers beat U Mumba TT 9-6
(Alvaro Robles lost to Quadri Aruna 1-2 (6-11, 10-11, 11-8; Suthasini Sawettabut bt Diya Chitale 2-1) 11-7, 11-9, 9-11; Harmeet Desai & Suthasini bt Manav Thakkar & Lily Zhang 2-1) 11-8, 11-8, 7-11; Harmeet Desai bt Manav Thakkar 2-1) 10-11, 11-7, 11-8, Reeth Tennison bt Lily Zhang 2-1) 6-11, 11-6, 11-9).
