By Kirti Patil
Pune: World championship men’s doubles silver medallist Spaniard Alvaro Robles showed he is just as good in singles too as he despatched seven-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist Achanta Sharath Kamal early on then Reeth Tenninson put an icing on the cake by beating Sutirtha Mukherjee to give her team—Goa Challengers a 8-7 win over the defending Champions Chennai Lions in winning their maiden UTT title.
India’s top-ranked paddler Harmeet Desai began in the right earnest by beating German star Benedikt Duda 6-11, 11-4, 11-8) before the tie went into cliffhanger, which the Goa team latched on to at the badminton hall of the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Mahalunge-Balewadi here on Sunday.
The maiden title earned the Goa franchise the sparkling trophy and Rs. 75 lakh, whereas the runners-up were awarded Rs 50 lakh for their brilliant performance in the season.
The franchise-based league is promoted by Niraj Bajaj and Vita Dani under the auspices of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) the League has been a gamechanger for the sport since its inception in 2017.
Chennai went into backfoot from the start when the world No. 32 Benedikt Duda, who was undefeated in the league so far, succumbed to Harmeet despite beginning the match on a high Duda He won the first game 11-6 before Harmeet made a remarkable comeback and pocketed the second game 11-4 to force the match into the decider.
The thrilling third game saw a seesaw battle as they showed immaculate with their touch shots and fought for every point. In the end, Harmeet held his nerve to win the game 11-8 and clinch the match.
Yangzi Liu, the first female paddler to score more than 200 points in the league, continued her unbeaten run in Season 4 and defeated Suthasini Sawettabut 2-1 to bring the Chennai Lions franchise back into the tie.
In the third match (Mixed Doubles), Sharath Kamal and Yangzi defeated Harmeet and Suthasini 2-1 as Chennai Lions took a 5-4 lead in the tie.
The Chennai Lions pair produced remarkable coordination in the first game to win it by 11-7 before clinching the second by 11-9. Harmeet and Suthasini won the third game through a golden point.
Then came the magic of Alvaro Robles, who blanked the seasoned Indian Sharath Kamal 3-0 in the fourth match of the tie to bring Goa Challengers into the contest. With the tie tantalizingly poised at 7-5 in favour of the Goa Franchise.
When the fifth and final match—women’s singles between Reeth tenninson and Sutirtha Mukherjee began, Reeth needed to win just one game to give her team the championship trophy.
Sutirtha was not to be cowed down as she covered both flanks well and frustrated Reeth to take the first game 11-7, the second went into golden point decider, which Sutirtha won, but Reeth hung on to take the third game 11-6 and the championship.
The result:
Goa Challengers beat Chennai Lions 8-7
Harmeet Desai bt Benedikt Duda 2-1 (6-11, 11-4, 11-8)
Suthasini Sawettabut lost to Yangzi Liu1-2 (11-7, 6-11, 5-11)
Harmeet /Suthasini lost to Sharath Kamal /Yangzi1-2 (7-11, 9-11, 11-10) Alvaro Robles bt Sharath 3-0 (11-8, 11-8, 11-10)
Reeth Tenninson bt Sutirtha Mukherjee 2-1 (7-11, 10-11, 11-6).
