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Manika Batra of Bengaluru Smashers made a winning start in Ultimate Table Tennis Season 4 by defeating Diya Chitale of U Mumba TT 2-1 at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Mahalunge-Balewadi, Pune on Thursday.
At the time of writing, Bengaluru Smashers were leading 4-2 team points against U Mumba TT with three matches left in the thrilling finale of Ultimate Table Tennis Season 4, powered by DafaNews. In the first match of the tie (men’s singles), World No. 58 Kirill Gerasimenko defeated World No. 18 Quadri Aruna 2-1 to earn two vital team points for his franchise.
The Bengaluru Smashers paddler started the match with positive intent and played some precise shots to beat Quadri 11-3, 9-11, 11-8 in a thrilling encounter.
Manika played the second match (women’s singles) of the tie and defeated Diya 2-1 to extend her franchise’s lead to 4-2 in the tie. She was in top gear from the start of the match and won it 11-10, 7-11, 11-6 with her aggressive and creative net play.
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Season 3 finalists Dabang Delhi TTC will look to clinch the title this time around in Ultimate Table Tennis Season 4 as they have a strong line-up of players in action on Saturday.
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran is the star attraction for the Delhi franchise, while Sreeja Akula and Ayhika Mukherjee also have experience of playing in big tournaments. Anirban Ghosh is the young talent in the squad, while Barbora Balazova and John Persson bring an international flavor to Dabang Delhi TTC.
“I have been a part of Dabang Delhi TTC for all the seasons of UTT and it feels like homecoming to be back here with the team. The league has played a tremendous role in grooming Indian talent and we have a great squad this season. Good. We are looking forward to our relationship and our focus is on winning the title,” Sathiyan quoted a UTT press release as saying before the match.
Goa Challengers, on the other hand, will rely on Indian stars Harmeet Desai, Anthony Amalraj, T Rith Rishya and Kritvika Sinha Roy apart from their overseas signings Alvaro Robles and Suthasini Saweta.
