Manav Thakkar and Ayhika Mukherjee cause upsets in Ultimate Table Tennis League

On a day which saw Indian young paddlers, Manav Thakkar and Ayhika Mukherjee shine, RP-SG Mavericks proved to be the superior side, beating last year’s finalists Empowerji Challengers 5-2 to earn 13 points while yielding just 8 in the seven-match encounter in Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) League on Saturday.

Ayhika began the march for the Mavericks, upsetting World No. 20 Lee Ho Ching and giving them an unexpected 2-1 lead. But Thakkar, who has been ranked number world no. 2 in Under-18, sprung a turnaround for Challengers by shocking World No. 33 Kou Lei.

Ranked 104 spots below her opponent from Hong Kong, Ayhika overcame her first game loss to win 2-1 (4-11, 11-2, 11-5) as she played at her defensive best.

Challengers’ Thakkar then attacked with confidence to gain maximum points (17) on his serve to upstage his Ukrainian rival, who was ranked 213 places above him. He won 2-1 (11-4, 11-7, 10-11) to tie the score 3-3.

Mavericks, however, surged ahead by winning the mixed doubles, the men’s singles and the women’s singles. Top-ranked women’s player Doo Hoi Kem of Hong Hong (World No. 13) took the lead role by first teaming up with captain Harmeet Desai to seal the mixed doubles against Arjun Ghosh and Lee Ho Ching 2-1 and then downed Romanian Georgina Pota in the women's singles 2-1 (11-1, 11-8, 6-11).

In between, Swede Mattias Karlsson shocked Challengers captain and the highest ranked men’s singles player (World No. 12) Simon Gauzy 2-1 (8-11, 11-7, 11-7).

Desai almost pulled off a surprise against World No. 40 Tiago Apolonia but was unlucky to lose the third game, with a powerful smash scraping the net giving the golden point to the Portuguese. He lost 1-2 (11-8, 6-11, 10-11). In the day’s last clash, Sabine Winter (Germany) overcame local girl Divya Deshpande 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5).