The penultimate day of the league stage in this year’s Ultimate Table Tennis was synonymous with the reaction image of film director Martin Scorsese raising his hands captioned with the catchphrase “absolute cinema”.
The host Chennai Lions, languishing at the bottom of the UTT table with 25 points in 4 ties, needed to win 13 out of 15 games against Puneri Paltan to qualify for the knockouts.
With a track record of just one out of four ties won, much wasn’t expected from the home side. However, the Sharath Kamal-led side reserved its best for the last and has given itself a slender chance to finish in the top half of the table. It registered a whopping 12-3 victory, the biggest margin of win in the last three seasons.
Sharath’s name was the first on the list, and he had to face a hotrod of a player in Ankur Bhattacharjee, the teenage sensation with a spotless record this season. Having beaten the likes of Lilian Bardet and Andreas Levenko previously this season, Ankur was expected to put on a show against a man in the twilight of his professional career.
With a nothing-to-lose attitude, Sharath battered an unusually non-aggressive Ankur in straight games to provide a glimmer of hope for his side. The 42-year-old aced the long rallies, read his opponent’s technique thoroughly and was at his agile best.
“Winning 3-0 in this kind of setup is very tough. I tried to stay calm despite the qualification scenario running through my mind. I understood that I can’t give them space to breathe,” Sharath said, reviewing his performance against Ankur.
Sharath also revealed that the order of play played an important role in the outcome of the fixture. “This was the first time that we had matches like we wanted. If Ankur had played a foreigner, it would’ve been difficult because his playstyle is pretty odd. But since I knew him, I was able to do what I wanted, and I didn’t try anything extravagant.”
The Paltan players came close to finishing off games but were unable to. Sharath’s idea of not giving breathing space seemed to have worked.
One clean sweep became two, and two became three. After the mixed doubles annexation, which he did alongside Japan’s Sakura Mori, Sharath’s calmness disappeared and the feeling of jubilation took over. After hugging Mori, Sharath turned towards the Chennai dugout and let out a huge scream, insinuating the fact that he had given it all.
But the Lions still had a herculean task ahead of them. They had to win four out of the possible six games to guarantee themselves a spot in the semifinal.
“The thing is, Puneri was in contention to reach the playoffs before the match, and we were down under. So, the mindset was like, ‘We don’t want to give up; let’s try our best and see what we can do.’ Our coach was asking us to aim for 15-0, but realistically, it was tough to believe,” Sharath said.
The Lions finally dropped their first game when Jules Rolland registered a 2-1 win against Joao Monteiro. However, the dagger that pierced the heart of the Lions arrived minutes after Rolland’s match.
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Sakura, now in a different assignment, was up against Natalia Bajor in women’s singles. She had conceded just two games in the tournament and was on an unbeaten run ahead of the match.
The 28-year-old was in familiar territory, and all she had to do was ensure a 2-1 win. However, pressure got the best of her, and Sakura ended up losing her first match on a day when it mattered the most.
“After the mixed doubles win, our plan was to go for 2-1 wins in the next two matches. When Rolland won in a comfortable manner, we could see their (Paltan) morale was down. Then suddenly that first game of women’s singles dropped. We had a bit of hope left, but unfortunate that it ended that way,” commented Sharath on his teammates’ performances.
“Anyways, she collected herself well and got us an important game. We had it in our hands, but now it looks tough. Let’s see,” he added.
Chennai Lions pulled a rabbit out of its hat and are just a step away from reaching the knockouts. It will hope that the Jaipur Patriots provide that stepping stone and register a 9-6 win against the Ahmedabad SG Pipers (currently seventh with 30 points), which will be just enough for it to move forward.
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