ThunderBlades edge Lions, begin campaign on a winning note
'Let's make some noise!' It was the mantra for Kolkata ThunderBlades, the latest entrant to the Ultimate Table Tennis bandwagon.
The franchise owners left no stone unturned in getting a fan army in the stands and the paddlers responded as they edged past Chennai Lions to start off their sojourn on a winning note.
Setting the tone
Ankur Bhattacharjee blanked the fancied Kirill Gerassimenko 3-0 to set the tone before Adriana Diaz, the Puerto Rican world No. 17, marked her return to UTT after seven years by winning the deciding game of the tie against former national champion Poymantee Baisya to hand ThunderBlades an 8-7 win.
Ankur was the pick of the day's proceedings.
After overpowering the world No. 55 in the opening game, the second game witnessed a spree of rallies with Gerassimenko trying to take control.
Ankur's class was displayed in the 23-shot rally at 8-7 in the second game when the Indian finished it off with a forehand top-spin.
In the third game, the backhand jab followed by a robust backhand winner at 9-7 left Gerassimenko stunned.
Even though Fan Siqi brought parity to the tie with a clean slate against Selenadeepthi Selvakumar, the last game that Ankur and Diaz snatched in the mixed doubles against Payas Jain and Fan proved to be crucial.
Jain also had an impressive UTT debut as he stretched Quadri to the hilt before the African veteran claimed a narrow win.
The results: Kolkata ThunderBlades bt Stanley's Chennai Lions 8-7 (Ankur Bhattacharjee bt Kirill Gerassimenko 11-4, 11-10, 11-7; Selenadeepthi Selvakumar lost to Fan Siqi 8-11, 10-11, 6-11; Ankur & Adriana Diaz lost to Payas Jain & Fan 6-11, 4-11, 11-8; Quadri Aruna bt Payas Jain 11-3, 8-11, 11-9; Adriana bt Poymantee Baisya 11-6, 7-11, 11-6).
U Mumba TT bt Ahmedabad SG Pipers 10-5 (Lilian Bardet bt SFR Snehit 11-4, 11-9, 4-11; Yashaswini Ghorpade bt Ayhika Mukherjee 8-11, 11-7, 11-4; Bernadette Szocs & Akash Pal bt Ayhika & Ricardo Walther 11-4, 10-11, 11-6; Pal lost to Walther 11-8, 6-11, 5-11; Szocs bt Georgia Piccolin 11-4, 11-10, 11-9).
Tuesday's fixture: Jaipur Patriots vs Chennai Lions (5 p.m.).
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