by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor
Impressive once again for Falcons was Sanil Shetty; in the opening match of the fixture, he beat Quadri Aruna (11-6, 11-10, 11-9), before partnering Lee Ho Ching to doubles success against Abishek Yadav and Doo Hoi Kem (11-5, 11-7, 11-8).
The only crumb of comfort for Olimax Stag Yoddhas was the performance of Polina Mikhailova; she accounted for Sutirtha Mukherjee (11-10, 11-9, 11-7) in the seventh match of the fixture. Otherwise, in addition to Sanil Shetty and Lee Ho Ching, there was no stopping Wu Yang, nor her male counterparts Pär Gerell and Liam Pitchford.
Conversely, for Dabang Smashers, the one game won by Sofia Polcanova in the concluding match of the fixture when losing to Tetyano Bilenko (8-11, 11-7, 11-10) was sufficient to secure the victory over RP-SG Mavericks.
Notably the mainstay of success for Dabanag Smashers was the host nation’s Sharath Kamal Achanta. After partnering Sofia Polcanova to doubles success against Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Kim Song I (11-10, 11-9, 11-6), he inflicted the one and only defeat to date on Marcos Freitas (11-6, 11-9, 5-11).
Proceedings concluded in Chennai, the next stop was New Delhi with the Falcons once again in action. A convincing win against Oilmax Stag Yoddhas, it was a 16-11 defeat when confronting Shazé Challengers.
Star of the show for Shazé Challengers was Han Ying; in the seventh match of the contest she overcame Priyadashini Das (11-7, 11-4, 11-4), prior to beating Wu Yang in the ninth engagement to seal the victory (11-10, 11-10, 11-10).
Alas for Sanil Shetty, so successful against Oilmax Stag Yoddhas, it was a reversal of fortunes. He was beaten by Li Ping in the opening contest of the fixture (11-7, 11-7, 11-5), before in the doubles when partnering Lee Ho Ching, experiencing defeat at the hands of Soumyajit Ghosh and Petrissa Solja (11-5, 11-7, 11-10).
The next fixture on the schedule, to be played in New Delhi on Saturday 22nd July, features Shazé Challengers versus Maharashtra United.
Ultimate Table Tennis: Complete Results – First Series
Ultimate Table Tennis: Complete Results – Second Series
Ultimate Table Tennis: Complete Results – Third Series
Ultimate Table Tennis: Latest Updates as on Tuesday 18th July
Format of Play
A fixture in Ultimate Table Tennis comprises nine matches, each match is three games; all three games are played. Each game is played to 11 points but should the score reach 10-10, the winner of the next point is declared the victor.
Each game won counts one point. Thus in each fixture there are 27 points at stake.
Overall eight players comprise a team, two men and two women from foreign associations; two men and two women from India. A fixture comprises four Men’s Singles matches, four Women’s Singles and one Mixed Doubles contest.
In each of the Men’s Singles and Women’s Singles matches, two contests involve foreign players confronting each other; two involve a foreign player facing an Indian opponent. No player may compete in two matches in any one fixture.
Following the conclusion of the fixtures on Thursday 27th July in Mumbai, the top four teams will enter the play-off stage, also held in Mumbai, to determine the name of the champions.
The semi-finals will be played on Friday 28th and Saturday 29th July with the final on Sunday 30th July.
Ultimate Table Tennis: The Teams (as on Saturday 15th July)
Ultimate Table Tennis: The Fixtures (Commence on Thursday 13th July)
Ultimate Table Tennis: Competition Format (as on Saturday 8th July)