India’s 20-year-old rising star Yashaswini Ghorpade pulled off a massive upset in Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) Season 6, becoming the first paddler to beat China’s Fan Siqi this season in U Mumba TT’s 9-6 win over Stanley’s Chennai Lions on Saturday. Earlier, Jeet Chandra upset World No. 34 Ricardo Walther of Germany as Jaipur Patriots recorded a dominant 11-4 win over Ahmedabad SG Pipers.
U Mumba’s Lilian Bardet continued his fine form with a 2-1 win over Kirill Gerassimenko, setting his team on their way. Then came the moment of the night: 20-year-old Yashaswini faced the unbeaten Fan and stunned the Chinese ace with a fearless performance.After dominating the opening game 11-5, Yashaswini fell behind 2-7 and then 8-10 in the third.
Battling back, she reeled off three straight points to take the game 11-10 on Golden Point and hand Fan her first defeat of the season.The momentum continued with Akash Pal and Bernadette Szocs combining for a 2-1 mixed doubles win, though Payas Jain swept Akash 3-0 in the next rubber to bring Stanley’s Chennai Lions level on the night.
Szocs, however, delivered a flawless 3-0 win over Poymantee Baisya to secure the tie for U Mumba, who moved to second in the table. Payas was named the Indian Player of the Tie, while Szocs claimed the Foreign Player of the Tie award. Yashaswini took home the Shot of the Tie honours.
Earlier, Indian paddler Jeet Chandra led from the front as Jaipur Patriots beat Ahmedabad SG Pipers in a dominant 11-4 win, climbing to the top of the table. Jeet stunned World Ranking 34 and World Championships silver medallist Ricardo Walther 2-1 in singles, sealing one of his biggest UTT wins yet.
Jaipur started strongly as Kanak Jha overcame a gritty debut from Divyansh Srivastava, while Britt Eerland swept Giorgia Piccolin 3-0. Ahmedabad hit back through Walther and Ayhika Mukherjee in the mixed doubles, but Jaipur stayed in control, with Sreeja Akula wrapping up the tie with a 2-1 comeback win over Ayhika. Jeet earned Indian Player and Shot of the Tie honours, with Eerland named Foreign Player of the Tie.
At the UTT Juniors, U Mumba TT and Kolkata ThunderBlades booked their spots in the final with solid semifinal wins. Prateek Tulsani and Ananya Muralidharan starred for U Mumba in a 5-2 win over Jaipur Patriots, combining for a dominant doubles sweep to seal the deal.
In the other tie, Kolkata’s Ritvik Gupta and Swara Karmakar delivered a clinical 5-3 victory over Dempo Goa Challengers, winning both their singles rubbers and contributing vital points in the doubles.
Final scores:
Jaipur Patriots 11-4 Ahmedabad SG Pipers
Kanak Jha bt. Divyansh Srivastava 3-0 (11-10, 11-8, 11-6)
Britt Eerland bt. Giorgia Piccolin 3-0 (11-7, 11-5, 11-10)
Jeet Chandra/Britt Eerland lost to Ricardo Walther/Ayhika Mukherjee 1-2 (8-11, 11-9, 7-11)
Jeet Chandra bt. Ricardo Walther 2-1 (11-10, 9-11, 11-9)
Sreeja Akula bt. Ayhika Mukherjee 2-1 (9-11, 11-7, 11-6)
U Mumba TT 9-6 Stanley’s Chennai Lions
Lilian Bardet bt. Kirill Gerassimenko 2-1 (11-6, 7-11, 11-3)
Yashaswini Ghorpade bt. Fan Siqi 2-1 (11-5, 6-11, 11-10)
Akash Pal/Bernadette Szocs bt. Payas Jain/Fan Siqi 2-1 (11-4, 11-3, 8-11)
Akash Pal lost to Payas Jain 0-3 (5-11, 8-11, 4-11)
Bernadette Szocs bt. Poymantee Baisya 3-0 (11-8, 11-6, 11-3)