Ultimate Table Tennis: UTT 2024 Tie 1: Goa Challengers triumph over debutants Jaipur Patriots in thrilling season opener

UTT 2024 Tie 1: Goa Challengers triumph over debutants Jaipur Patriots in thrilling season opener

Modified Aug 22, 2024 23:38 IST

Harmeet Desai and Yangzi Liu, Image Credits: UTT

The much-anticipated Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) 2024 season kicked off on Thursday, August 22, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai.

The opening encounter of Season 5 saw defending champions Goa Challengers edge out league debutants Jaipur Patriots in a thrilling 9-6 victory.

A closer look at the results of Tie 1 of UTT 2024: Goa Challengers vs. Jaipur Patriots

The opening tie (Men’s Singles) saw India's Olympian and star paddler Harmeet Desai of Goa Challengers against Jaipur Patriots’ Cho Seungmin. Desai dominated the first game, winning with an 11-2 scoreline. However, Seungmin mounted an impressive comeback in the second game, flipping the script with an 11-1 victory to take the match into a decider.

Seungmin continued his momentum into the third game, building an early 7-1 lead before sealing the match with an 11-5 win, giving the Jaipur Patriots an early 2-1 advantage in the tie.

In the second match (Women’s Singles), Goa Challengers' Yangzi Liu took on Jaipur Patriots’ Suthasini Sawettabut. Right from the outset, Liu played some exceptional table tennis, making minimal errors. While Sawettabut put up a strong fight in the first half of the second game, Liu comfortably beat her 3-0 to swing the momentum in favor of Goa Challengers, giving them a 4-2 lead in the tie.

The third match featured the Mixed Doubles pairs of Harmeet Desai and Yangzi Liu from the Goa Challengers taking on the Jaipur Patriots' duo of Suthasini Sawettabut and Ronit Bhanja.

The pair from Goa made quick work of their opponents in the first game, but Ronit and Suthasini managed to level things in the second game and take the match to the decider. In the final game, Desai and Liu powered through to win the 11-7, extending Goa’s lead to 6-3 in the tie.

The fourth match of the evening saw another men’s singles clash. Ronit Bhanja of the Jaipur Patriots faced off against Goa Challengers’ Mihai Bobocica. Ronit got off to a strong start but was unable to maintain his momentum as the Italian paddler mounted a remarkable comeback. Mihai took the match 2-1, pushing the Goa Challengers to a commanding 8-4 lead and securing their overall victory in the tie.

The fifth and final match of the tie saw both Yashaswini Ghorpade and Nithyashree Mani make their debuts in the Ultimate Table Tennis League. The women’s singles match began with a fierce neck-and-neck battle that saw Mani winning the first game on a golden point.

Ghorpade fought back to claim the second game and level the match, but Mani regained her composure in the final game, ultimately winning the match and earning valuable points for the Patriots. Despite Mani’s victory, the Jaipur Patriots fell short overall, losing 6-9 to the Goa Challengers in the first tie of the new season.

Debutants Ahmedabad SG Pipers will face off against the Puneri Paltan in the first tie of Friday’s double-header. Later in the day, Bengaluru Smashers will lock horns with the Chennai Lions.