Latest news with #UTT2024
The Hindu
a day ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
Abhinandh makes the most of UTT debut
P.B. Abhinandh, the youngest paddler in the sixth season of Ultimate Table Tennis, was taking a nap in his hotel room on Thursday afternoon when he received a knock on his door. The moment he saw U Mumba coaches John Murphy and Jay Modak at the door, he knew the moment that he was waiting for since UTT 2024 was finally here. 'I had it in my mind that I may get a chance to play and I was ready. I had been waiting for this opportunity since last year and I had to make it count,' Abhinandh, the 16-year-old Chennai boy, said after marking his UTT debut by stunning Dabang Delhi TTC's Olympian Quek Izaak of Singapore. Abhinandh surprised Izaac, a teenage sensation who has made rapid strides on the world circuit, with his aggressive forehand winners close to the table. Abhinandh's win, despite conceding the last game to his opponent, was instrumental in helping U Mumbai finish third in the points table and enter the knockouts in style. 'I would have loved to make it 3-0, but even 2-1 was a good result. To beat such a good player whom I had lost against earlier, but I learnt quite a few lessons in the match,' he said. 'He is so good and has beaten so many good players on the circuit, so I just thought about challenging myself. I kind of managed his speed but didn't fully match it. I would love to keep working on it.' Despite being with Chennai Lions in 2024, Abhinandh couldn't get game-time. This time around, with U Mumba investing in him in the player auction, Abhinandh knew he had to grab the opportunity whenever it was presented to him. And he was ready to withstand the semifinal pressure as well. 'I will be ready. I have been telling myself to be ready all the time and the kind of advice I have received especially from Lilian (Bardet, the Frenchman who is the main men's singles player for U Mumba) is priceless,' Abhinandh said. Will Abhinandh get a knock on his door Saturday afternoon – hours before its semifinal against defending champion Dempo Goa Challengers – yet again?
The Hindu
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
Gerassimenko fails to lead from the front for Chennai Lions
A captain is supposed to lead his troops from the front. Seldom do we see a captain's performance and that of his team being inversely proportional. It was no different when it came to the Chennai Lions' miserable campaign in the sixth season of Ultimate Table Tennis. After finishing the 2023 edition as runner-up and missing out on the semifinal berth in 2024 by a whisker, the Lions banked on Kirill Gerassimenko, the seasoned Kazakhkstan paddler, to steer the ship along with China's Fan Siqi. However, every time he took to the table in the last 10 days, seldom did Gerassimenko appear to be the consistent paddler who is considered one of the most dangerous players on the world tour. While Gerassimenko won just four of his 15 games, the Lions finished at the bottom of the points table, failing to win a single match. Perhaps the air-conditioning worked against him or it was the inability to convert all three golden points against Jaipur Patriots' Kanak Jha in the Lions' second match, but Gerassimenko looked ordinary, to say the least, on the table. The Lions pitted him at the start of the match and later on in the fourth singles, but the result didn't change. 'I tried to change my racket, rubbers, practised in different ways, but nothing worked,' a distraught Gerassimenko admitted after the Lions' sorry 3-12 loss against Goa Challengers in its last match. Even coach Jorg Bitzigeio stated they tried their best for a turnaround in Gerassimenko's form. 'In the past two weeks, we tried a lot. We had a lot of conversations and video analysis. In practice, we tried different things just to get him in his routine,' said Bitzigeio. 'He really underperformed. I am not blaming him. It can happen. Sometimes, he felt that he had never played table tennis before. Not result-wise but performance wise, he has never played as bad as he did here. Maybe the match against Kanak where he lost three golden points, could have been a crucial moment for him and the team.' After missing UTT 2024, Gerassimenko had high hopes from his campaign on his return to India. It turned out to be a nightmare, instead!
The Hindu
5 days ago
- 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.).
