Marcos Freitas and Kim Song I recorded two wins each to spur Dabang Smashers T to a 16-11 victory over DHFL Maharashtra United in the CEAT Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) at the Thyagaraj Stadium on Saturday.
G Sathiyan put Smashers ahead in the opening match with a stunning 11-3, 11-9, 7-11 win over Hong Kong World No 8 Wong Chun Ting in the men’s singles.
Sathiyan ran away with the opening game and then rallied back to clinch the second. Ting, however, came back strongly to win the third and bag a point for his team.
North Korea World No 19 Song I extended Smashers’ lead to 4-2 with a 11-2, 11-5, 9-11 victory over Pooja Koparkar in the women’s singles. In-form Song I dominated the Indian World No 279 in the first two games but Pooja rallied to win the third game.
In mixed doubles, Smashers’ Anthony Amalraj and Tetyana Bilenko registered a 11-8, 11-4, 4-11 victory over Harmeet Desai and Liu Jia to extend their team’s lead to 6-3.
China-born Ukraine international Kou Lei, ranked No 28, then pulled off a thrilling 11-10, 11-9, 5-11 win over Ting in the men’s singles to give Smashers a commanding 8-4 lead over United after four matches.
However, Fu Yu scored a straight games win over Bilenko in the women’s singles to bring United back in contention at 7-8. But Marcos Freitas quelled a spirited challenge by United’s Harmeet Desai 11-6, 8-11, 11-10 to stretch Smashers’ lead to 10-8.
Madhurika Patkar held her nerves when it mattered the most to beat Fu 11-9, 7-11, 11-10 in the women’s singles to help Smashers move to a 12-9 lead. She became the first Indian woman to beat a foreign player in the league.
Freitas then returned to beat his countryman Joao Monteiro o United 8-11, 11-10, 11-8 in the men’s singles to hand Smashers’ an unassailable 14-10 lead.
Song I then wrapped up the tie for Smashers with a 11-6, 9-11, 11-10 win over Liu Jia in the women’s singles category.
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