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Chennai Lions defeated Puneri Paltan TT in the first Tie of the Ultimate Table Tennis 2023 on Thursday (July 13) at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Mahalunge-Balewadi, Pune.
The fourth edition of the Ultimate Table Tennis League began with the defending champions Chennai Lions kickstarting the event against Puneri Paltan TT.
Chennai Lions' Achanta Sharath Kamal and Omar Assar locked horns in the first match, men's singles. From 2-5 down, Omar Assar leveled things to 5-5 in the first game. Later, Sharath Kamal saved two game points to win the golden point and took the first game. Omar Assar came back stronger to win the second game, and Sharath Kamal won the final game to win the opening match 2-1.
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Archana Kamath and Yangzi Liu met in the women's singles in the second match of the day. Yangzi Liu had a convincing run over the Indian star to extend Chennai Lions' lead (4-1). Later in the match, Archana Kamath found her form to take Game 3 via golden point and reduced the game point deficit to 2-4.
The Mixed Doubles event witnessed The Chennai Lions Pair of Yangzi Liu and Sarath Kamal dominate the Puneri Paltan's pair, Archana Kamath and Omar Assar. The defending champions took the first game by 11-8 to extend the overall game point (11-5). A couple of unforced errors at the start of game two from Puneri Paltan gave a positive start for the defending champions. They won the second game by 11-8.
Game 3 witnessed absolute domination from the Chennai Lions pair. The unforced errors from Omar Assar did not help their case as well. Sharath Kamal and Yangzi Liu completed Match three with an 11-2 win in game three to take the overall lead to 7-2.
In the second men's singles match, Benedikt Duda and Manush Shah locked horns to provide a tough battle. Match four went closer than the other four matches.
However, a few unforced errors at the wrong time from Manush Shah witnessed Benedikt Duda win the first Game one and Game 2. (11-9, 11-7). Manush Shah ended the match with a win in the final game (7-11).
The final Match of the day witnessed the battle between Hana Matelova and Sutirtha Mukherjee. Hana Matelova was the first player from Puneri Paltan to win the first game of the match today. Hana won the game convincingly by 11-6.
Hana also had a positive start in Game 2, but Sutirtha won seven straight points to take Game Two by 11-5. Hana dominated Game Three and gave away just two points to complete the impressive run by 11-2. Though Puneri Paltan TT lost the first tie, the final victory of Hana Matelova must give them a bit of confidence going into the next tie.
Chennai Lions vs Puneri Paltan TT Match Result:
Chennai Lions 10-5 Puneri Paltan TT
Men's Singles
Sharath Kamal 2-1 Omar Assar
Scores: 11-10, 9-11, 11-6
Women's Singles
Yangzi Liu 2-1 Archana Kamath
Scores: 11-5, 11-10, 10-11
Mixed Doubles
Sharath Kamal-Yangzi Liu 3-0 Omar Assar-Archana Kamath
Scores: 11-5, 11-8, 11-2
Men's Singles
Benedikt Duda 2-1 Manush Shah
Scores: 11-9, 11-7, 7-11
Women's Singles
Sutirtha Mukherjee 1-2 Hana Matelova
Scores: 6-11, 11-5, 2-11
