Rising up to the occasion: Aruna’s strong start gave the Mumbai team a much-needed boost.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
A Mumbai versus Chennai affair in a franchise-based league going down to the wire is nothing new for a sport fan.
The same phenomenon was on display in the Ultimate Table Tennis season four on Sunday night at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports City.
Aruna Quadri (World No. 18) and Lily Zhang (World. No 27) – the two highest-ranked paddlers competing in UTT 2023 in men’s and women’s, respectively – put U Mumba TT in charge by opening up a 5-0 lead.
When Lily and Manav Thakkar won the mixed doubles 2-1, U Mumba – leading 7-2 – was on the cusp of a victory.
Benedikt Duda, the Olympic medal winner from Germany, then whitewashed Manav Thakkar to bring Chennai Lions right back in the game.
But Mumbai’s Diya Chitale, the promising Indian paddler, snatched the second game from World No. 32 Yangzi Liu to seal the deal for U Mumba and give its army of supporters a reason to celebrate a famous win.
Chitale’s outstanding performance meant Aruna’s 3-0 mauling of Chennai Lions’ captain cool A. Sharath Kamal did not end up in a losing cause.
Aruna used the depth of the table to precision as Sharath could never get his rhythm going.
While Sharath could use his trademark backhand topspin for a winner only once – early on in the third game – the largest turnout of the night was left spellbound with Aruna’s control and power.
The result:
Chennai Lions lost to U Mumba TT 7-8 (A. Sharath Kamal lost to Aruna Quadri 8-11, 8-11, 5-11; Sutirtha Mukherjee lost to Lily Zhang 10-11, 7-11, 11-10; Sharath & Yangzi Liu lost to Manav Thakkar & Lily 11-6, 5-11, 9-11; Benedikt Duda bt Manav Thakkar 11-8, 11-9, 11-4; Yangzi bt Diya Chitale 11-6, 8-11, 11-3).
Monday’s fixture: Puneri Paltan TT vs Goa Challengers.