UTT 2019 | Clinical G Sathiyan gives Dabang Delhi maiden win over U Mumba
Dabang Delhi got their first win in the third season of the Ultimate Table Tennis Championships as Gnanasekaran Sathiyan guided his side with victories in menâs singles and mixed doubles events to win the tie 8-4. Sathiyan stepped in the court when U Mumba had leveled the score at 3-3.
Before the world No. 24 came in, Mumba had taken an early lead through World No. 12 Doo Hoi Kem, who defeated 19th ranked Bernadette Szocs 2-1 before Delhi leveled proceedings as 72nd ranked Jon Persson stunned Kirill Gerassimenko 2-1.
Sathiyan had a tricky task in the mixed doubles, where he was paired with Szocs and the duo was playing against Manav Thakkar and Doo Hoi Kem. After they had taken an early lead, Thakkar and Kem came back to level things and forcing a decider. But, Sathiyan assumed control of things beautifully to win the match.
In the singles too, Thakkar gave a tough fight but an experience Sathiyan was able to win the golden points in the first two points. With the pressure then off, the world No. 24 went on the offensive and Thakkar had no answer.
In the last singles, Sutirtha Mukherjee stepped up to beat a tentative Krittwika Sinha Roy 2-1 to reduce the margin of defeat for Mumbai but the final result was 9-6 and with as many as seven games being decided on âgolden pointâ only showed how close the tie was.
Results:
Dabang Delhi beat U Mumba 9-6 (Bernadette Szocs lost to Doo Hoi Kem
10-11, 10-11, 11-8; Jon Persson bt Kirill Gerassimenko 11-10, 11-10,
7-11; G. Sathiyan and Bernadette bt Manav Thakkar and Doo Hoi Kem
11-2, 8-11, 11-8; Sathiyan bt Thakkar 11-10, 11-10, 11-7; Kwrittwika
Sinha Roy lost to Sutirtha Mukherjee 4-11, 10-11, 11-8).
