UTT: RP-SG Mavericks edge out Dabang Smashers T.T.C in close tie

RP-SG Mavericks edged out Dabang Smashers T.T.C 14-13 in a close tie on Day 8 of the Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) at the Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai on Thursday.

Dabang Smashers T.T.C's G Sathiyan warmed the hearts of the home crowd as the local star pulled off a stunning 2-1 (11-5, 11-9, 10-11) win over RP-SG Mavericks' Austrian world No 23 Stefan Fegrel in the men's singles (Foreign v Indian), the day's opening match.

Sathiyan, ranked 110, cruised to an easy win in the opening game, and rallied brilliantly to win a tense second game. The Indian then recovered brilliantly from 3-7 in the last game before the experienced Fegerl won on the final point.

Ukrainian world No. 56 Tetyana Bilenko made it 4-2 for Dabang Smashers T.T.C after she rallied from a game down for a 2-1 win (10-11, 11-7, 11-8) over Archana Kamath of RP-SG Mavericks in the women's singles (Foreign v Indian).

Archana, 17 years old and ranked 217, won the opening game on the final point. However, Bilenko came back strongly to bag the next two.

A Sharath Kamal / Sofia Polcanova (Austria) put RP-SG Mavericks in the lead 5-4 with a 3-0 (11-5, 11-7, 11-5) win over G Sathiyan / Kim Song I of Smashers in the mixed doubles (Foreign/Indian pair).

However, China-born Ukraine world No. 28 Kou Lei of Dabang Smashers T.T.C edged out Portuguese world No. 31 Tiago Apolonia (RP-SG Mavericks) 2-1 (11-3, 10-11, 11-10) in the men's singles (Foreign player category) to level the scores at 6-all with five more matches remain in the ongoing tie.

North Korean world No 19 Kim Song I defeated Sabine Winter of RP-SG Mavericks 2-1 (11-8, 11-8, 9-11) in the women's singles (Foreign player category) to hand Smashers the lead at 8-7.

World No. 43 Sharath Kamal levelled it at 9-9 for RP-SG Mavericks with a 2-1 (11-8, 11-9, 5-11) win over Portuguese world No 14 Marcos Freitas (Dabang Smashers TTC) in the men's singles (Indian v Foreign) as the Indian's home fans supported loudly.

Sabine Winter thumped Madhurika Patkar of Dabang Smashers TTC a 3-0 (11-9, 11-9, 11-6) in the women's singles (Foreign v Indian) to hand RP-SG Mavericks a 12-9 lead but Marcos Freitas helped Dabang Smashers TTC rally back to 11-13 with a 2-1 (11-5, 11-5, 10-11) win over Stefan Fegrel in the men's singles (Foreign player category).

It boiled down to the last match of the day, the women's singles (Foreign player category) between RP-SG Mavericks' Austrian world No 44 Sofia Polcanova and Dabang Smashers TTC's Tetyana Bilenko.

Polcanova won the opening game 11-8 to help RP-SG Mavericks edge ahead to 14 points before Tetyana Bilenko rallied to win the next two games to help Dabang Smashers T.T,C finish with 13 points.