Latest news with #UltimateTableTennis'
The Hindu
7 hours ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
Meshref's injury derails Jaguars as Challengers prove too hot to handle
The toss was done, and the line-ups were announced. But during the warm-ups, Dina Meshref – PBG Pune Jaguars' ace paddler of the Ultimate Table Tennis' sixth season – pulled out after having hurt her back during its last outing. Such was the blow for Jaguars that they never recovered from it and lost to defending champion Dempo Goa Challengers 5-10. Goa Challengers started strongly and took a 7-2 lead in the first three ties itself. Had Anirban Ghosh – the surprise package of the season – not stunned veteran Tiago Apolonia and Reeth Rishya not taken a game off Zeng Jian, the Jaguars would have faced a mauling. The 10-5 scoreline in favour of the Goa outfit eventually kept both teams in the hunt for the semifinals. As per the UTT rules, Jaguars had to pick a replacement from the choice of two overseas players. It went with South Korea's Zion Lee. But with the sudden call-up, Zion wilted under the big-match pressure as Krittwika Sinha Roy stunned the Korean 2-1. Minutes earlier, Harmeet Desai – Krittwika's husband – had edged past Spaniard southpaw Alvaro Robles in the match of the day. Harmeet and Robles – familiar foes at UTT and on the world tour – enthralled the audience with superb strokeplay. It was Harmeet's control with the backhand and powerful forehand winners that eventually set the tone for the Challengers. As expected, Harmeet and Zeng made a clean sweep against Anirban Ghosh and Zion – teaming up for the first time – in the mixed doubles to widen the margin. The results: Dempo Goa Challengers bt PBG Pune Jaguars 10-5 (Harmeet Desai bt Alvaro Robles 11-10, 11-9, 10-11; Krittwika Sinha Roy bt Zion Lee 11-5, 5-11, 11-6; Zeng Jian & Harmeet bt Zion & Anirban Ghosh 11-9, 11-5, 11-9; Tiago Apolonia lost to Anirban Ghosh 9-11, 11-8, 7-11; Zeng Jian bt Reeth Rishya 10-11, 11-7, 11-4). Dabang Delhi TTC bt Kolkata ThunderBlades 8-7 (Quek Izaac lost to Ankur Bhattacharjee 6-11, 11-6, 10-11; Maria Xiao lost to Adriana Diaz 7-11, 5-11, 11-10; Maria Xiao & G. Sathiyan bt Adriana Diaz & Ankur Bhattacharjee 11-7, 11-7, 9-11; Sathiyan lost to Quadri Aruna 11-7, 9-11, 6-11; Diya Chitale bt Ananya Chande 11-4, 11-6, 11-7). Saturday's fixtures: Jaipur Patriots vs Ahmedabad SG Pipers (5 p.m.); U Mumba TT vs Stanley's Chennai Lions (7.30 p.m.).
The Hindu
10 hours ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
Sharath Kamal hopes for a Lion-hearted turnaround
Three matches. Three losses, albeit narrow ones. No wonder then that Stanley's Chennai Lions finds itself with its back to the wall in the Ultimate Table Tennis' sixth edition. A. Sharath Kamal, the stalwart in his first official assignment outside the arena having hung up his boots two months ago, wasn't willing to throw in the towel yet. 'We are not where we wanted to be. We have been having ups and downs right from the first match. The first match, at least it was equally placed where we went on to seven-each and we lost the final game,' Sharath, the Lions' mentor, said after the team went down 8-7 against Ahmedabad SG Pipers on Thursday night. 'In the last two ties, we started with a major deficit and that makes it very hard to keep catching up all the time. We have been having some good performances, but we need to start winning up front.' Not only does Chennai Lions now find itself in a must-win position in the next match against U Mumba TT on Saturday but also needs to beat defending champion Dempo Goa Challengers by a huge margin to give itself a chance of getting closer to the knockouts. 'Tough teams, tough matches. I hope we have one big win. On an average, we need to get on to 40, so you need two matches 10 points each. We are capable of doing that,' said Sharath, with the Lions' having accumulated 20 points in its first three games. One of the major problems with the Lions has been the first singles tie where none of their men paddlers has won a game yet. After losing six games on the trot against Kolkata ThunderBlades' Ankur Bhattacharjee and Jaipur Patriots' Kanak Jha, Kirill Gerassimenko was shunted down the order on Thursday. But Payas Jain, the promising Indian, couldn't take a game off Ricardo Walther on Thursday. 'We have been talking to Kirill and he is a quality player. Even Payas was in fantastic shape but went down. That's where we need to have a start, which is at least putting us on an equal plane going into the mixed doubles.'
The Hindu
21-05-2025
- Sport
- The Hindu
Amalraj highlights need for professional table tennis leagues in the country
Former India table tennis player Anthony Amalraj, speaking at the launch of the fourth edition of the Table Tennis Super League (TTSL) here on Wednesday, highlighted the need for professional leagues to grow the sport in India. 'In Europe, we've always had a league system. But in India, we mostly had a tournament system, and there's a huge difference between the two. In a tournament, if you lose once, you're out — it's over. 'But in a league, players get chances to bounce back, to take advice, and to improve. Financial stress is also lower in leagues because of sponsor support,' Amalraj said. The TTSL is Ultimate Table Tennis' (UTT) grassroots development tournament. The Tamil Nadu edition will feature six teams — Jeppiar Jaguars, Leo Legends, DRA Dragons, SSVM Smashers, Vibe Victors, and E Daddy Warriors. Amalraj added that Indian players' performances have improved since the advent of the UTT. 'Leagues are more professional. Since UTT started in 2017, India's performance has seen a shift — our women's team reached the Olympic quarterfinals, and now Indian players have the confidence to take on top nations like China and Japan,' he said. A silver-medallist from the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Amalraj said that establishing such leagues will boost the player pools across States. 'Only Sathiyan from Tamil Nadu made it to the World Championships this time. 'But see, we're not like China, where lakhs of people play table tennis. It's not like asking, 'when will we get the next Virat Kohli in cricket?' Because lakhs play cricket, you have a bigger pool. In table tennis, the player base is smaller. It takes time. After I came, Sathiyan came 3–4 years later. So it's a gradual process,' he added.
The Hindu
21-05-2025
- Sport
- The Hindu
Initiatives like Table Tennis Super League needed to grow the sport: Anthony Amalraj
Former India table tennis player Anthony Amalraj, speaking at the launch of the fourth edition of Table Tennis Super League (TTSL) in Chennai on Wednesday, highlighted the need for professional leagues to grow the sport in India. 'In Europe, we've always had a league system. But in India, we mostly had a tournament system, and there's a huge difference between the two. In a tournament, if you lose once, you're out—it's over. But in a league, players get chances to bounce back, to take advice, and to improve. Financial stress is also lower in leagues because of sponsor support,' Amalraj said. The TTSL is Ultimate Table Tennis' (UTT) grassroots development tournament. The Tamil Nadu leg will feature six teams—Jappier Jaguars, Leo Legends, DRA Dragons, SSVM Smashers, Vibe Victors, and E Daddy Warriors. Amalraj added that Indian players' performances have improved since the advent of the UTT. 'Leagues are more professional. Since UTT started in 2017, India's performance has seen a shift—our women's team reached the Olympic quarterfinals, and now Indian players have the confidence to take on top nations like China and Japan,' he said. A silver-medallist from the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Amalraj said that establishing such leagues will boost the player pools across states. 'Only Sathiyan from Tamil Nadu made it to the World Championships this time. But see, we're not like China, where lakhs of people play table tennis. It's not like asking, 'when will we get the next Virat Kohli in cricket?' Because lakhs play cricket, you have a bigger pool. In table tennis, the player base is smaller. It takes time. After I came, Sathiyan came 3–4 years later. So it's a gradual process,' he added.
