Patriots oust Pipers, inch closer to the semifinal
The paddlers in pink did just that. Not only did it reverse the scoreline of the loss against Delhi with an 11-4 win but the controversy-marred match also resulted in the Ahmedabad outfit being the first to be eliminated from the race to the semifinals.
While Kanak Jha and Britt Earland's clean sweeps against debutant Divyansh Srivastava and Giorgia Piccolin, respectively, had all but sealed the fate of the match, the match turned out to be a controversial affair with Ricardo Walther and Jeet Chandra involved in a heated argument over net-call.
At 4-3 in the first game, Jeet caught the ball in his hands despite the umpires not calling it let but Walther agreed with the net-ball call. Trailing 8-10, Jeet came up with a deceptive ace down-the-line with Walther appealing for a net-call despite having been beaten on the turn. While Jeet left it to the umpires, his opponent insisted on replays – knowing that the review system isn't available in UTT.
The umpires awarded Jeet the point and when Walther declined to take to the table even yellow-carded him. Rattled with the call, Walther failed to get his act together and lost the game and the tie. But the players buried the hatchet with a handshake at the end of the tie and the match!
The results: Jaipur Patriots bt Ahmedabad SG Pipers 11-4 (Kanak Jha bt Divyansh Srivastava 11-10, 11-8, 11-6; Britt Eerland bt Giorgia Piccolin 11-7, 11-5, 11-10; Eerland & Jeet Chandra lost to Ayhika Mukherjee & Ricardo Walther 8-11, 11-9, 7-11; Chandra bt Walther 11-10, 9-11, 11-9; Sreeja Akula bt Ayhika Mukherjee 8-11, 11-7, 11-6).
U Mumba TT bt Chennai Lions 9-6 (Lilian Bardet bt Kirill Gerassimenko 11-6, 7-11, 11-3; Yashawini Ghorpade bt Fan Siqi 11-5, 6-11, 11-10; Bernadette Szocs & Akash Pal bt Fan & Payas Jain 11-4, 11-3, 8-11; Akash Pal lost to Payas Jain 5-11, 8-11, 4-11; Szocs bt Poymantee Baisya 11-8, 11-6, 11-3).
Sunday's matches: Dempo Goa Challengers vs Kolkata ThunderBlades (5 pm); Dabang Delhi TTC vs PBG Pune Jaguars (7.30 pm).
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India Today
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- India Today
The Thunderblades story: How a former player is trying to revive Kolkata's table tennis scene
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The team, through the Ultimate Table Tennis competition, at least gave something back to Kolkata, a city that loved the sport dearly through the 2000s and this story isn't about Ankur. This is about someone who could've been Ankur, had life panned out Kumar, the part owner of Kolkata Thunderblades, was a former national-level table tennis player. Rajat, who now owns his own company, MVikas Group, told India Today in an exclusive interview about how he loved the sport, was forced to walk away from it, and then returned after a long hiatus of 15 played table tennis along with Ketan since 1995. Both of us have represented Delhi at the national level,' Rajat told India Today in an exclusive conversation. 'We always had that connection with the sport. That's what motivated us to get back in, first as sponsors for U Mumba, and now as team owners.'Their entry was part chance, part destiny. When Puneri Paltan backed out of UTT this year, Rajat and Ketan pounced on the opportunity. They bought the new franchise. And the Thunderblades were OF KOLKATA THUNDERBLADESAt the time that Rajat played table tennis, there was no way to sustain one's livelihood just through the sport, bar the elite players, of course. So, once he saw that the road was coming to an end, Rajat got into the academic side and completed his CA degree."There were not many opportunities at that time. You could open an academy, you could trade in equipment, but nothing more than that. Today, you have foreign and national leagues. Both my parents were from government service, so for me, simply playing TT was not an option," Rajat Rajat's practice flourished, he got into other things. He called back his brother who was working at Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and started their own firm, dealing in industrial products and government despite the success that his CA career and entrepreneurship brought, table tennis stayed at the back of his the opportunity arrived, Rajat got together with Ketan and bought the new franchise in UTT. In business terms, it made little sense. As per his own admission, they are not going to make any money out of this team in the next 10 years."Me and Ketan, we balance out each other. I bring the calm, he brings the dhols. I sit and bite my nails, he cheers the team, shouts loudly. This aspect has worked in building this team as well," Rajat there's no illusion here. Rajat knows this isn't a money-making venture, at least not yet.'I don't think I'll see a return for 7–10 years,' he said bluntly. 'But if we get an Olympic medal? That changes everything. Look at what happens in India when you win a medal. 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'I want Kolkata to grow. I want TT to be great in this city again.'And if one of those kids becomes the next Ankur Bhattacharjee?Then maybe, just maybe, the long bet will pay off.- Ends
New Indian Express
21-06-2025
- New Indian Express
For paddler Diya, mental strength helps her take huge strides
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NDTV
20-06-2025
- NDTV
This Tennis Legend Keeps Ultimate Table Tennis Star Yashaswini Ghorpade Going. Not Sania Mirza
The Ultimate Table Tennis wrote a new chapter on the conclusion of its sixth edition as the tournament found a new winner. U Mumba gave a dominating performance and defeated Jaipur Patriots in the grand finale on June 15 in Ahmedabad and clinched their maiden UTT title. The entire Mumbai team performed like a single unit and did not even let Jaipur take a sigh of relief even for once during the match. With this performance, U Mumba etched their name in the history books of UTT. Although Yashaswini Ghorpade didn't feature in the final, her standout semi-final display epitomised U Mumba's collective strength this season. In the semis against Dempo Goa Challengers, U Mumba needed three victories in all the remaining three matches, in order to reach the final. However, Yashaswini held her nerves and defeated Krittwika Sinha Roy in the women's singles clash and took her side into the final. The 20-year-old played her first UTT season in 2024 with the Goa Challengers and went on to lift the title with them. In 2025, she was roped in by the U Mumba and surprisingly, she clinched the title again. Speaking to the media before the final, Yashaswini revealed that before the season, she was going through some tough time but she gathered herself back and gave an exemplary performance. "Last two-three months were quite difficult for me. Before this season, I was a bit down but things changed when I came here. It is amazing to be around many champion players and the team environment always lifts me up," said Yashaswini. While replying to a query from NDTV, Yashaswini also stated that tennis legend Roger Federer is her biggest motivation. "Roger Federer is my biggest motivation. I always sees his matches and even his workout and fitness routines to keep myself going. He is the biggest inspiration and I also want to achieve something like that," she said. Talking about the grand finale, wins for Lilian Bardet and Bernadette Szocs gave U Mumba an early lead, before Szocs and Akash Pal swept the mixed doubles 3-0 to take them to the brink. Teenager Abhinandh PB sealed the title with a clutch game win in the fourth match.
