The Goa challenge too strong for toothless Lions
Mauling
The 12-3 mauling meant the double defending champion Goa Challengers entered the knockouts for the fourth season in a row, while the Lions ended a forgettable season on a sombre note, unable to qualify for the last four for the second consecutive season. It was only the third instance since UTT moved to a 15-game format per match that a team had won 12 points in a contest.
Chennai Lions and Ahmedabad SG Pipers had defeated Puneri Paltan TT and Jaipur Patriots, respectively, by the same margin in UTT 2024.
Even before the teams reached the EKA Arena, Goa Challengers had brought in Brazilian Vitor Ishiy as a replacement for Tiago Apolonia, who was yet to recover from a stomach bug. Captain Harmeet Desai blanked Kirill Gerassimenko to end a miserable campaign in yellow jersey for the Kazakh paddler.
Zeng Jian then repeated the streak against Poymantee Baisya, with the diminutive Indian doing her best to stretch the third match into a golden point. It took the second game of the mixed doubles for the Lions to open their account, with Gerassimenko and Baisya winning the golden point. Payas Jain, the runner-up at the Senior Nationals in January, was expected to win against Ishiy but the Brazilian made a superb comeback with his counterplay to outsmart Payas' power.
Krittwika Sinha Roy then stunned Fan Siqi – far from being 100 per cent – to make it a record win.
The result: Dempo Goa Challengers bt Stanley's Chennai Lions 12-3 (Harmeet Desai bt Kirill Gerassimenko 11-7, 11-7, 11-5; Zeng Jian bt Poymantee Baisya 11-6, 11-8, 11-10; Zeng & Desai bt Baisya & Gerassimenko 11-2, 10-11, 11-5; Vitor Ishiy bt Payas Jain 7-11, 11-9, 11-9, Krittwika Sinha Roy bt Fan Siqi 8-11, 11-9, 11-9).
The standings: Dempo Goa Challengers 44 points (5 matches) Qualified, Dabang Delhi TTC 39 (4) Q, Jaipur Patriots 32 (4), U Mumba TT 32 (4), Kolkata ThunderBlades 29 (4), Stanley's Chennai Lions 29 (5), PBG Pune Jaguars 28 (4), Ahmedabad SG Pipers 22 (4).
Tuesday's match: Ahmedabad SG Pipers vs Kolkata ThunderBlades (7.30 p.m.).
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