Dabang Delhi TTC Defeats UP Prometheans 9-6 in Ultimate Table Tennis Season 7 Opener
HYDERABAD — Dabang Delhi TTC staged an impressive comeback to defeat UP Prometheans 9-6 in the opening match of the Butterfly Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) Season 7 at the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium in Goa on Friday. The tie also made history as the venue for the first-ever debut and use of the Table Tennis Review (TTR) system in India.
UP Prometheans took an early lead in the tie when Indian paddler Manav Thakkar defeated Egypt's Youssef Abdelaziz 2-1 with scores of 11-8, 11-5, and 10-11.
During this opening singles match, the newly introduced TTR system was utilized for the first time in India. Thakkar challenged Abdelaziz's serve for ball visibility. Thakkar's first two TTR appeals were successful, which allowed him to keep his three allotted unsuccessful reviews. His third appeal, however, was unsuccessful as the review confirmed the ball remained visible under the regulations.
Dabang Delhi TTC responded quickly to level the tie. Spanish paddler Maria Xiao defeated Australia's Yangzi Liu 2-1 with scores of 11-6, 11-7, and 4-11.
Xiao then teamed up with Sathiyan Gnanasekaran in the mixed doubles match. The duo dominated the game, defeating UP Prometheans' pair of Thakkar and Liu in straight games 3-0 with scores of 11-9, 11-7, and 11-5, which pushed Delhi ahead 6-3.
Gnanasekaran extended Delhi's lead further with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Germany's Ricardo Walther. Gnanasekaran won the first two games before Walther took the third, ending the match 11-8, 11-6, and 6-11.
UP Prometheans attempted a late fightback when Sayali Wani narrowly defeated Divyanshi Bhowmick 2-1 with scores of 9-11, 11-5, and 11-10, but it was not enough to prevent Dabang Delhi TTC from securing the overall victory.
Following the matches, Maria Xiao was named the Match IQ Player of the Tie for her performance in both singles and doubles. Ricardo Walther received the Shot of the Tie award for his performance in the third game against Gnanasekaran.
