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Ultimate Table Tennis: Semi-final line-up is complete

The semi-finals of the Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) will be played today (July 28) and tomorrow. The final is on Sunday (July 30).

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Mumbai, July 28: Shaze Challengers rallied to beat RP-SG Mavericks 15-12 in the concluding league tie of the inaugural CEAT Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) at the NSCI in Mumbai on Thursday (July 27) to qualify for the knockouts of the country's newest franchise sports league.

Falcons TTC finished on top of the 6-team League table with 78 points, followed by Shaze Challengers (73), Dabang Smashers TTC (69), DHFL Maharashtra United (64), Oilmax Stag Yoddhas (61) and RP-SG Mavericks (60).

Sharath Kamal celebrates a point

Falcons TTC will take on DHFL Maharashtra United in the first semi-final today (July 28) and Shaze Challengers will meet Dabang Smashers TTC in the second semi-final on Saturday (July 29).

The final will be held on Sunday (July 30). In the knockouts, teams will play only up to such time that one team is winner, having secured 14 points.

RP-SG Mavericks opened with a 2-1 win after Indian ace A Sharath Kamal put it past Croatian world No 46 Andrej Gacina (Shaze Challengers) 11-7, 1-11, 11-7 in the men's singles (Foreign Vs Indian).

German Sabine Winter made it 4-2 for RP-SG Mavericks by winning the first two games in the women's singles (Foreign Vs Indian) against Mouma Das but the 135-ranked Bengal lass pulled one back to score Shaze Challengers' second point.

Next up was mixed doubles (Foreign/Indian pair) which RP-SG Mavericks' pair of Sharath Kamal/ Sofia Polcanova won 2-1 (11-7, 11-5, 9-11) but Li Ping and Mouma Das picked a crucial point for Shaze Challengers by winning the third game, even as RP-SG Mavericks led 6-3.

Austrian Stefan Fegerl extended RP-SG Mavericks' lead to 8-4 with a 2-1 (2-11, 11-7, 11-8) win over Gacina in the men's singles (Foreign player category).

Former Indian cricket captain Kapil Dev at UTT tournament

Winter won her second outing of the day when she beat fellow German Petrissa Solja 2-1 (11-10, 4-11, 11-6) in the women's singles (Foreign player category) as RP-SG Mavericks moved to a commanding 10-5 lead.

Soumyajit Ghosh then recorded Shaze Challengers' first win of the day when he rallied to beat Fegerl 2-1 (9-11, 11-10, 11-8) in the men's singles (Foreign v Indian) to reduce his team's margin of deficit to 7-11.

China-born German world No. 9 Han Ying brushed aside 17-year-old Archana Girish Kamath, ranked 217 in the world, 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-4) to help narrow down Shaze Challengers' deficit down to one point (10-11).

China-born Qatar world No. 42 Li Ping beat Portuguese world No 31 Tiago Apolonia 3-0 (11-4, 11-9, 11-10) in the men's singles (Foreign player category) as Shaze Challengers took the lead for the first time in the tie, at 13-11.

Han Ying then won her second match of the day when she beat Austrian Sofia Polcanova in the women's singles (Foreign player category) 2-1 (11-3, 11-7, 10-11) to seal the tie for Shaze Challengers.

Earlier in the evening, 1983 ICC World Cup cricket winning captain Kapil Dev and Bollywood star Juhi Chawla graced the occasion.

Kapil also successfully took on eight-time national champion Kamlesh Mehta to engage the Mumbai audience in an exciting face-off ahead of the day's first match between A Sharath Kamal of RP-SG Mavericks and Andrej Gacina of Shaze Challengers.

The cricket legend also shared encouraging words with budding stars. He said, "At a nascent stage in your career, make sure you enjoy your game, enjoy your practice sessions and don't let yourself come under any pressure."

Both the celebrities stayed on to enjoy the matches between RP-SG Mavericks and Shaze Challengers.

OneIndia News

Story first published: Tuesday, August 22, 2017, 12:23 [IST]
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