Delhi storm into UTT semifinals

With qualification in its own hands, Dabang Delhi TTC rose to the occasion, dismantling PBG Pune Jaguars 10-5 to storm into the semifinals of Ultimate Table Tennis Season 7 on Thursday night.

Powered by commanding performances from all four paddlers in its navy blue and gold colours at the Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium, Delhi sealed the fourth and final semifinal berth and set up a clash against league topper Dempo Goa Challengers.

Delhi began the evening knowing it needed at least nine points from its final league tie to stay alive. The task briefly looked tricky when Omar Assar gave Pune a dream start, winning the opening two games of the all-Egyptian contest against Youssef Abdulaziz to keep the Jaguars’ faint hopes of a miraculous qualification alive.

But from that point onwards, the contest belonged almost entirely to Delhi. Abdulaziz responded impressively, overpowering his more experienced compatriot in the third game to get Delhi on the board before Maria Xiao dominated Prithika Pavade in an assured display. The Spaniard controlled the rallies from the outset and never allowed Prithika to settle into the contest.

Captain G. Sathiyan then combined with Maria to continue Delhi’s impressive run in the mixed doubles, blanking the pairing of Anirban Ghosh and Diya Chitale to stretch the lead to 7-2.

That left Sathiyan with a familiar responsibility. With Delhi requiring two more games to guarantee a semifinal place, the veteran once again delivered under pressure. The only player to have represented the same franchise in all seven editions of UTT held his nerve to clinch the decisive golden point, ensuring Dabang Delhi maintained its record of reaching the semifinals in every season of the league.

The result: Dabang Delhi TTC bt PBG Pune Jaguars 10-5 (Youssef Abdulaziz lost to Omar Assar 8-11, 8-11, 11-8, Maria Xiao bt Prithika Pavade 11-7, 11-10, 11-7, G. Sathiyan & Maria bt Anirban Ghosh & Diya Chitale 11-8, 11-4, 11-4, Sathiyan bt S.F.R. Snehit 11-8, 11-10, 6-11, Sutirtha Mukherjee lost to Diya Chitale 11-10, 10-11, 8-11).

Standings: Dempo Goa Challengers 56 points (6 ties), HVR Kolkata Thunder Blades 49 (6), U Mumba TT 48 (6), Dabang Delhi TTC 46 (6), Ahmedabad APL Pipers 45 (6), PBG Pune Jaguars 39 (6), UP Prometheans 32 (6).

Semifinal line-up: Dempo Goa Challengers vs Dabang Delhi TTC (Friday); HVR Kolkata Thunder Blades vs U Mumba TT (Saturday).