Latest news with #AhmedabadSGPipers
Hindustan Times
10-06-2025
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
Snehit stuns world no. 26 Quadri as Ahmedabad SG Pipers pip Kolkata ThunderBlades
Ahmedabad, Snehit Suravajjula pulled off one of the biggest upsets of Ultimate Table Tennis by sweeping past world no. 26 Aruna Quadri, helping Ahmedabad SG Pipers edge Kolkata ThunderBlades 8-7 here on Tuesday. Despite their narrow victory, Ahmedabad's chances of making the playoffs were dashed. Kolkata will have to wait until the final two ties to discover their fate. The outcome also confirmed that Dempo Goa Challengers and Dabang Delhi TTC have qualified for the playoffs. The evening began with high drama as Ricardo Walther handed Ankur Bhattacharjee his first loss of the season. Ankur started strong, surging to a 7-1 lead in the opener, but Walther mounted a remarkable comeback to take it 11-10. The German veteran followed up with an 11-5 win in the second game, sealing the match and breaking Ankur's unbeaten streak. Ankur salvaged the final game to keep Kolkata in the hunt. Ayhika Mukherjee then edged the first game against Puerto Rican ace Adriana Diaz in the women's singles, but Diaz bounced back strongly to dominate the next two games, closing the decider 11-1 to level the tie. In mixed doubles, Ankur and Diaz held their nerve in crunch moments, taking a tight 2-1 win over Walther and Ayhika. Snehit, still looking for his first win of the season, delivered a sensational 3-0 sweep of Aruna in the fourth match with controlled aggression and fearless forehand play. The Indian came back from 9-10 in the opener and 5-8 in the second, finishing with a flurry to pull of big upset. Scores: ===== Ahmedabad SG Pipers 8-7 Kolkata ThunderBlades Ricardo Walther bt. Ankur Bhattacharjee 2-1 Ayhika Mukherjee lost to Adriana Diaz 1-2 Ricardo Walther/Ayhika Mukherjee lost to Ankur Bhattacharjee/Adriana Diaz 1-2 Snehit Suravajjula bt. Quadri Aruna 3-0 Yashini Sivashankar lost to Selena Selvakumar 1-2 .
The Hindu
10-06-2025
- Sport
- The Hindu
ThunderBlades lose, face an anxious wait
It was a battle between a side that had to win big to put other teams in contention for the knockouts under pressure and a team that was fighting to avoid the wooden spoon. While Kolkata ThunderBlades crumbled, Ahmedabad SG Pipers ended its Ultimate Table Tennis season with a tag of the party-pooper. Fingers crossed Pipers' 8-7 win means that ThunderBlades have to keep their fingers crossed for the next two league games. With Goa Challengers and Dabang Delhi TTC having sealed a place in the semifinals, ThunderBlades had to win at least nine games to put the other three contenders under real pressure. But Ankur Bhattarcharjee threw away a great start against Germany's Ricardo Walther. Leading 8-1 and 9-4, Ankur took it slightly easy, and the seasoned Walther then exposed his opponent's weakness on the forehand corner to run away with the game and the match. Adriana Diaz then had to beat Ayhika Mukherjee with a 3-0 margin to keep ThunderBlades on course for a semifinal spot. But Ayhika's long-pimples on both sides trapped Diaz in the opening game as the Indian opened up the gap in favour of the Ahmedabad outfit. Leading 5-4 at the end of the mixed doubles, ThunderBlades banked their hopes on Aruna Quadri blanking SFR Snehit, and Selenadeepthi Selvakumar to repeat the feat against debutant Yashini Sivashankar in an all-Tamil Nadu battle. But Snehit turned the tables on Quadri with his aggressive forehand to win 3-0. Yashini gave ThunderBlades the last laugh by winning the third game despite failing to convert three game points in the first. The result: Kolkata ThunderBlades lost to Ahmedabad SG Pipers 7-8 (Ankur Bhattacharjee lost to Ricardo Walther 10-11, 5-11, 11-10; Adriana Diaz bt Ayhika Mukherjee 10-11, 11-8, 11-1; Diaz & Ankur bt Ayhika & Walther 11-10, 8-11, 11-7; Quadri Aruna lost to S.F.R. Snehit 10-11, 9-11, 8-11; Selenadeepthi Selvakumar bt Yashini Sivashankar 11-10, 4-11, 11-10). The standings: Dempo Goa Challengers 44 points (5 matches) Qualified, Dabang Delhi TTC 39 points (4) Q, Kolkata ThunderBlades 36 (5), Jaipur Patriots 32 (4), U Mumba TT 32 (4), Stanley's Chennai Lions 29 (5), PBG Pune Jaguars 28 (4), Ahmedabad SG Pipers 22 (4). Wednesday's match: Jaipur Patriots vs PBG Pune Jaguars (7.30 p.m.).
The Hindu
09-06-2025
- Sport
- The Hindu
The Goa challenge too strong for toothless Lions
Dempo Goa Challengers recovered from Sunday night's blip to cap off the league stage with a record victory against Stanley's Chennai Lions on Monday and cement a place in the Ultimate Table Tennis Season 6 semifinals. 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.).
The Hindu
08-06-2025
- Sport
- The Hindu
Review system, the need of the hour in UTT
On a day that saw two disputes involving umpiring decisions in both the matches, the coaches and players hoped for the Table Tennis Review (TTR) system to be implemented in the Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT). 'The technology is available, so we could use it here also when it comes to the net service and the hidden service rules. We got booked for hidden service, but actually when I see how some of the opponents are serving, then you could call every serve as well. Normally the umpire should see this but otherwise technology can be helpful,' said Chris Pfeifer, the Ahmedabad SG Pipers coach. Ahmedabad's Ricardo Walther was yellow-carded on Saturday after stressing on the replays to be shown for a net service call that was ruled in favour of his opponent, Jaipur Patriots' Jeet Chandra. 'It was a very crucial point. From my chair, you could see that it was a net but there are two umpires over here and I think it was a bad day for the umpires as well.' TTR has been selectively implemented at various tournaments across the globe. Sachin Shetty, the Jaipur Patriots coach, disagreed with Pfeifer's assessment of the controversial point but echoed the sentiment over the TTR implementation. 'UTT should introduce the review system. We should introduce it in future. I think they are looking at it. It can even come in handy for deciding on the service trajectory,' Shetty said. 'With regard to the point, I can understand Ricardo felt bad about it but all of us on the bench were convinced that it wasn't a net serve, so I don't think the call was wrong.' In the late match, U Mumba's Bernadette Szocs was stunned to see Poymantee Baisya, the Chennai Lions paddler, being awarded a point after it bounced off the net camera and to the side of the net. While the rulebook clarifies that camera as an external equipment is considered as net, the TTR would have helped determine whether the ball touched the edge or the side of the table. 'The review system will help but it didn't matter in that game and the match eventually, but everyone will support the review system,' said Szocs' teammate Yashaswini Ghorpade, after surprising China's Fan Siqi.
United News of India
08-06-2025
- Sport
- United News of India
U Mumba defeat Stanley's Chennai Lions 9-6 in UTT Season 6
Ahmedabad, June 7 (UNI) India's 20-year-old rising star Yashaswini Ghorpade pulled off a massive upset in UTT Season 6, becoming the first paddler to beat China's Fan Siqi this season in U Mumba TT's 9-6 win over Stanley's Chennai Lions on Saturday. Earlier, Jeet Chandra upset World No. 34 Ricardo Walther of Germany as Jaipur Patriots recorded a dominant 11-4 win over Ahmedabad SG Pipers. Staged under the aegis of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) and promoted by Niraj Bajaj and Vita Dani, IndianOil UTT continues to grow as a premier professional league. All 23 ties, over 16 action-packed days, will take place at Ahmedabad's EKA Arena. U Mumba's Lilian Bardet continued his fine form with a 2-1 win over Kirill Gerassimenko, setting his team on their way. Then came the moment of the night: 20-year-old Yashaswini faced the unbeaten Fan and stunned the Chinese ace with a fearless performance. After dominating the opening game 11-5, Yashaswini fell behind 2-7 and then 8-10 in the third. Battling back, she reeled off three straight points to take the game 11-10 on Golden Point and hand Fan her first defeat of the season. The momentum continued with Akash Pal and Bernadette Szocs combining for a 2-1 mixed doubles win, though Payas Jain swept Akash 3-0 in the next rubber to bring Stanley's Chennai Lions level on the night. Szocs, however, delivered a flawless 3-0 win over Poymantee Baisya to secure the tie for U Mumba, who moved to second in the table. Payas was named the Indian Player of the Tie, while Szocs claimed the Foreign Player of the Tie award. Yashaswini took home the Shot of the Tie honours. Earlier, Indian paddler Jeet Chandra led from the front as Jaipur Patriots beat Ahmedabad SG Pipers in a dominant 11-4 victory, climbing to the top of the table. Jeet stunned WR34 and World Championships' silver medalist Ricardo Walther 2-1 in singles, sealing one of his biggest IndianOil UTT wins yet. Jaipur started strongly as Kanak Jha overcame a gritty debut from Divyansh Srivastava, while Britt Eerland swept Giorgia Piccolin 3-0. Ahmedabad hit back through Walther and Ayhika Mukherjee in the mixed doubles, but Jaipur stayed in control, with Sreeja Akula wrapping up the tie with a 2-1 comeback win over Ayhika. Jeet earned Indian Player and Shot of the Tie honours, with Eerland named Foreign Player of the Tie. At the Dream UTT Juniors—a joint initiative by IndianOil UTT and Dream Sports Foundation—U Mumba TT and Kolkata ThunderBlades booked their spots in the final with solid semifinal wins. Prateek Tulsani and Ananya Muralidharan starred for U Mumba in a 5-2 win over Jaipur Patriots, combining for a dominant doubles sweep to seal the deal. In the other tie, Kolkata's Ritvik Gupta and Swara Karmakar delivered a clinical 5-3 victory over Dempo Goa Challengers, winning both their singles rubbers and contributing vital points in the doubles. Final Scores: Jaipur Patriots 11-4 Ahmedabad SG Pipers Kanak Jha bt. Divyansh Srivastava 3-0 (11-10, 11-8, 11-6) Britt Eerland bt. Giorgia Piccolin 3-0 (11-7, 11-5, 11-10) Jeet Chandra/Britt Eerland lost to Ricardo Walther/Ayhika Mukherjee 1-2 (8-11, 11-9, 7-11) Jeet Chandra bt. Ricardo Walther 2-1 (11-10, 9-11, 11-9) Sreeja Akula bt. Ayhika Mukherjee 2-1 (8-11, 11-7, 11-6) U Mumba TT 9-6 Stanley's Chennai Lions Lilian Bardet bt. Kirill Gerassimenko 2-1 (11-6, 7-11, 11-3) Yashaswini Ghorpade bt. Fan Siqi 2-1 (11-5, 6-11, 11-10) Akash Pal/Bernadette Szocs bt. Payas Jain/Fan Siqi 2-1 (11-4, 11-3, 8-11) Akash Pal lost to Payas Jain 0-3 (5-11, 8-11, 4-11) Bernadette Szocs bt. Poymantee Baisya 3-0 (11-8, 11-6, 11-3). UNI BM
