A howler from the official streaming platform for the Ultimate Table Tennis attracted a few guffaws from the media tribune at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium on Wednesday. While Jaipur Patriots and Ahmedabad SG Pipers were locked in a battle to survive in the semifinal race, the mobile application ran the live tab with promo banners and tickers from Chennai Lions’ tie from the previous day for the entire duration of the matchday.
They cannot be entirely blamed though.
This was as much the Lions’ match as the other two teams’. Back from their hotel rooms, Sharath Kamal and Co. were rooting for the Patriots to take between nine to 12 games from the contest. That would have seen the home team play under the city-lights again. But the SG Pipers not only made sure they set those plans ablaze, but also went on to break the smoke alarm and direct the fire brigade away from the flames as the Patriots were decimated 12-3. This is now the joint-largest drubbing of a team ever in a 15-game format of the UTT.
The SG Pipers will now meet Dabang Delhi TTC on Friday, with PBG Bengaluru Smashers set to lock horns with Athlead Goa Challengers in semifinal 1.
Cho Seungmin was dealt the first blow, sinking to his third defeat on the bounce. His opponent Lilian Bardet was of the idea that he had inflicted a clean sweep but the umpire thought otherwise as he awarded the golden point from the final game to Cho. After a brief hold-up, the replays which came up suggested the Frenchman may have just nicked the edge of the table. There could have been protests owing to the lack of an official review system but the SG Pipers decided to go about their day without bickering.
The Patriots’ campaign came to an end as soon as Suthasini Sawettabut conceded the first game in her singles fixture to SG Pipers’ Bernadette Szocs. That seemed to have played on the Thai paddler’s mind as she looked clueless against the infamous tomahawk serve in the second game, picking merely three points off the World No. 13.
Szocs, additionally, served a lot more to Sawettabut’s backhand which seemed to bother the latter to great lengths. In the third game, with the score at 8-4 in favour of the Romanian, Szocs clutched her back, having seemingly pulled a muscle while trying to effect a forehand topspin. Although she seemed to be in a bit of discomfort, she had it in her to pick up three more points and complete the 3-0 whitewash.
All concerns about the extent of Szocs’ injury were put to rest when she combined with Manush Shah in mixed doubles. The only unbeaten pair of the league continued building on its rich vein of form to see a perplexed Cho-Nithyashree Mani duo off to the bench in no time.
With the team having secured semifinal qualification with a win in the second game, Szocs had a huge smile on her face during the break.
Snehit SFR, captain of the Patriots, leaked two more points before Reeth Rishya took on Moumita Dutta, who was playing her first game of 2024. The first game was a neck-and-neck affair with the duo testing the waters early on.
SG Pipers, however, bagged the golden point. With the semifinal ties finalised, Reeth dictated the pace in the last two games, pocketing a whitewash and ensuring the players hurry back to their rooms to get a well-deserved rest.
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