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The Hindu

U Mumba overcomes Dabang Delhi to seal a spot in semifinal

Around an hour into the last league match of the Ultimate Table Tennis Season Six, the moment Quek Izaac hit a forehand topspin out of the table, Akash Pal and Bernadette Szocs – U Mumba TT's tried and tested mixed doubles combination – had a big smile on their faces. The bench also rose to celebrate, with Lilian 'T-Rex' Bardet – who breached G. Sathiyan's defence to start off the night on an ideal note for U Mumba – all smiles along with coaches. The elementary objective of winning five points – and thus confirming the fourth semifinal spot for U Mumba had been achieved. While it meant heartbreak for Kolkata ThunderBlades, glued to their screens at the hotel on the other side of the Sabarmati, U Mumba became the first team to defeat Dabang Delhi TTC this season. The reverse singles saw debutantes' day out, with youngsters fielded by both the teams coming up with an impressive showing. Thanks to his control on the backhand, courtesy a short-pimpled rubber, and forehand winners close to the table, PB Abhinandh surprised Quek Izaac to put U Mumba on the cusp of a win. Suhana Saini, the Delhi debutant, then stretched in-form Yashaswini Ghorpade but couldn't convert two golden points off her senior. Ghorpade's 3-0 win meant U Mumba finished third and avoided a semifinal rematch between the two teams. Homage to plane-crash victims The UTT organisers paid homage to the victims of the Air India plane-crash close to the Ahmedabad airport. Sporting black armbands, both the teams observed a minute's silence at the start of the match. The organisers did not play music right through the evening. The result: U Mumba TT bt Dabang Delhi TTC 10-5 (Lilian Bardet bt G. Sathiyan 11-10, 4-11, 11-4; Bernadette Szocs bt Diya Chitale 3-11, 11-10, 11-8; Szocs & Akash Pal lost to Diya & Quek Izaac 11-5, 7-11, 5-11; P.B. Abhinandh bt Izaac 11-4, 11-9, 7-11; Yashaswini Ghorpade bt Suhana Saini 11-10, 11-10, 11-3). League standings: Dabang Delhi TTC 44 points, Dempo Goa Challengers 44, U Mumba TT 42, Jaipur Patriots 41,Kolkata ThunderBlades 36, PBG Pune Jaguars 34, Ahomedabad SG Pipers 30, Stanley's Chennai Lions 29. Semifinal line-up: Dabang Delhi TTC vs Jaipur Patriots (Friday, 7.30 p.m.); Dempo Goa Challengers vs U Mumba TT (Saturday, 7.30 p.m.).