Latest news with #RicardoWalther
Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- 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
3 days ago
- 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
5 days ago
- 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.
