Table Tennis: Defending champs Falcons start on a winning note

Defending champions Falcons TTC made a winning start against Maharashtra United in the opening tie of the second CEAT Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) here on Thursday.

In the first leg at the Balewadi Indoor Stadium, Lily Zhang and Anthony Amalraj helped Maharashtra United gain an early 4-2 lead against the defending champions.

Zhang provided Maharashtra with a flying start by defeating Falcons' Suthirtha Mukherjee 3-0 but Amalraj failed to cash in on dominant positions and went down 1-2 to Englishman Liam Pitchford.

After losing the first game 11-5, Pitchford came back into the contest by winning the second 11-8.

However, the Indian raced to a 7-1 lead in the third game only to fritter away the advantage, allowing the World No. 49 and last season's Most Valuable Player to clinch the game 11-9.

Earlier, Zhang proved too strong for Suthirtha, 22, and any contest between the two was restricted to the first game which the American won on a golden point 11-10. But thereafter, 21-year-old Zhang ranked 56thin the world, eased to victories in the next two games 11-8, 11-5.

Remaining matches: Mixed doubles: Bernadette Szocs (Rom) / Sanil Shetty v Elizabeta Samara (Rom) / Amalraj Anthony; Men's singles: Alvaro Robles (ESP) v Joao Monteiro (Por); Women's singles: Bernadette Szocs (Rom) v Elizabeta Samara (Rom); Men's singles: Sanil Shetty v Kristian Karlsson (Swe); Women's singles: Matilda Ekholm (Swe) v Madhurika Patkar.