Goa Challengers defends UTT title in style

Goa Challengers defend title against Dabang Delhi TTC in Ultimate Table Tennis final with commanding 8-2 victory.

Irrespective of the result of the Ultimate Table Tennis’s season five final on Saturday (September 7, 2024) night, history was anyway in the making. After all, it was the first time that the franchise-based table tennis league was going to witness a two-time champion in its short yet competitive history so far.

Despite a boisterous crowd at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium supporting Dabang Delhi TTC – the adopted local team with G. Sathiyan at its helm – Goa Challengers defended its title in style. Such was the command of the Challengers that the Delhi franchise could not pose any challenge, as Goa raced to a 8-2 win, with five games to spare in the final.

Both the teams went for the kill in the draw, pitting their captains Sathiyan and Harmeet – arch-rivals since their sub-junior days – against each other first up. Sathiyan got off the blocks in no time, riding on the supporters’ wave, and executing his short serves and shorter receives to perfection. 

In the second game, however, Harmeet found his mojo and started moving his arm to perfection for his robust forehand top-spins. Once he started combining the forehand winners with his trademark flicks on both flanks, Sathiyan was found clueless as Harmeet comfortably gave the Challengers an early advantage. 

Yangzi Liu then tilted the tie firmly in Goa’s favour, winning all three games against southpaw Orawan Paranang. Despite stunning Bernadette Szocs 3-0 to play a crucial role in Delhi’s semifinal win the night earlier, Paranang couldn’t repeat heroics as Yangzi controlled the match with her soft-pimpled backhand rubber to perfection. 

Paranang came close to handing Delhi a much-needed point, stretching the second game into a golden point. Despite enjoying the advantage of a serve, she made a backhand error to hand Yangzi the game. 

The confidence they had derived from the singles win trickled into the mixed doubles tie as Harmeet and Yangzi won two of the three mixed doubles game before veteran Mihai Bobocica finished the tie off by winning the first game against Andreas Levenko.