UTT: Sanil put Falcons TTC in control over Stag Yoddhas

Mumbai lad Sanil Shetty recorded two victories to help Falcons TTC take a firm grip over the third round tie against Oilmax Stag Yoddhas with a 11-1 lead after four matches on Day 7 of the Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) at the Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai on Wednesday.

In-form Shetty put his team ahead with a dramatic 3-0 (11-6, 11-10, 11-9) victory over Nigerian world No 29 Quadri Aruna in the men's singles (Foreign v Indian category), the day's opening match.

Left-handed Shetty, ranked 201 in the world, took a 5-4 lead in opening game before wrapping it convincingly. The Mumbai player fought hard to quell the Nigerian's challenge in the next two games with some stunning counter attacks to hand his team full three points.

Chinese world No 13 Wu Yang made it 6-0 lead for Falcons TTC with a commanding 3-0 (11-5, 11-10, 11-8) victory over Manika Batra in the women's singles (Foreign v Indian category).

Promising Manika made a huge impression in the second game when she rallied back strongly to go up 10-8 before the experienced Yang, who is in hot form, beat back the Indian's challenge to take the game on golden point.

Shetty recorded his second win of the day as he and Hong Kong's Lee Ho Ching extended Falcons TTC's lead to 9-0 with a thumping 3-0 (11-5, 11-7, 11-8) win over Abhishek Yadav / Doo Hoi Kem (HK) in the mixed doubles (Foreign/Indian pair) match.

Swedish world No. 41 Par Gerell made it 11-1 for Falcons TTC with a 2-1 (9-11, 11-5, 11-9) come-from-behind win over Croatia's Tomislav Pucar, an injury replacement for Panagiotis Gionis, in the men's singles (Foreign player category).

Five more matches remain in this ongoing tie.

Today, Dabang Smashers T.T.C will lock horns with RP-SG Mavericks in a third round clash which will also be the inaugural season's last tie in Chennai.