Rising star Diya Chitale pulled off a massive upset against World No. 26 Manika Batra as Dabang Delhi TTC staged a late charge to upstage table toppers PBG Bengaluru Smashers 8-7 in a thrilling UTT 2024 tie that went right down to the wire at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai.
Diya outplayed Manika 3-0 (11-6, 11-10, 11-8) as Dabang Delhi TTC – who were seemingly down and out after Smashers raced into a 7-1 lead – pulled off the unthinkable by clinching seven consecutive games.
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Despite suffering their first loss of the season, Smashers became the first team to enter the knockouts with 48 points after five ties. Dabang Delhi continue at the second spot with 41 points.
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The Smashers were off to a promising start when Alvaro Robles blanked youngster Yashansh Malik 3-0 (11-3, 11-10, 11-5) in the first men’s singles. Lily Zhang continued her unbeaten run this season, outclassing Orawan Paranang 3-0 (11-7, 11-7, 11-7) in the first women’s singles. The American star has dropped just one game this season and Sunday’s result was her fourth 3-0 win on the trot.
However, Orawan and G Sathiyan sparked the turnaround for the Delhi-based franchise when they downed the star pair of Manika and Alvaro Robles 2-1 (11-8, 8-11, 11-8) in the mixed doubles. Sathiyan went on to blank a fighting Jeet Chandra 3-0 (11-10, 11-6, 11-5) to raise visions of a comeback by Dabang Delhi TTC.
That set up a nail-biting finish with Diya Chitale taking on a formidable challenge against Manika in the second women’s singles. The promising youngster pulled off a giant slaying act as she comprehensively outplayed the experienced Team India star.
Earlier on Sunday, Puneri Paltan Table Tennis stormed back into contention for a place in the knockouts with a 9-6 win over debutants Jaipur Patriots in an exciting clash. The team from Pune are in the fourth spot with 28 points. Jaipur leapfrogged a rung to take the fifth spot with 25 points.
Ankur Bhattacharjee put the Pune outfit off to a winning start by defeating Ronit Bhanja 2-1 (10-11, 11-10, 11-8) in the first men’s singles. Suthasini Sawettabut brought Jaipur back to level terms with a 2-1 (8-11, 11-10, 11-7) verdict over the highly rated Ayhika Mukherjee. Pune regained the lead immediately when Natalia Bajor and Anirban Ghosh got the better of Nithyashree Mani and Cho Seungmin 2-1 (11-10, 7-11,11-9) in the mixed doubles clash, and then got a two-point lead when Joao Monteiro registered his first win in the tournament by beating the dangerous Cho Seungmin 21- (8-11,11-10,11-7). Natalia Bajor wrapped up the victory for Puneri Paltan with a 2-1 (11-8, 7-11, 11-6) win over a fighting Nithyashree Mani in the second women’s singles.
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