Jaipur Patriots enters UTT semifinals

Kanak Jha falls ill, Jaipur Patriots advance to Ultimate Table Tennis semifinals with strong performances from male duo.

Kanak Jha joined the list of overseas paddlers to catch a stomach bug on the banks of Sabarmati. Still, Jaipur Patriots’ Indian male duo rose to the occasion to back its female lot and help the Patriots sail into the Ultimate Table Tennis semifinals.

With Jeet Chandra and Yashansh Malik winning three of the six men’s singles games and Britt Eerland and Sreeja Akula continuing their strong show, the Patriots outplayed PBG Pune Jaguars 9-6 to confirm its entry into the knockout stage.

For the Jaguars, ever since a back injury forced Dina Meshref to pull out of the tournament, season six of UTT did not pan out the way the team wanted as it finished sixth in the standings.

The feature match turned out to be the all-Bengal affair up front between Jeet Chandra and Anirban Ghosh. The bespectacled Jeet was at the top of his game, with his powerful forehand taking even the familiar opponents by surprise frequently. The down-the-line winner on the turn at 8-6 in the second game was one of the points of the day.

Once Jeet gave the Patriots the 2-1 lead, the absence of Jha was not to be felt, until Sreeja won a close decider against Zion Lee to close the match out. Yashansh Malik, who had sat on the bench for three of the four matches, made his opportunity count by snatching a game off southpaw Alvaro Robles.

The result: Jaipur Patriots bt PBG Pune Jaguars 9-6 (Jeet Chandra bt Anirban Ghosh 11-8, 11-9, 10-11; Britt Eerland bt Reeth Rishya 11-9, 6-11, 11-10; Eerland & Chandra bt Reeth & Alvaro Robles 9-11, 11-6, 11-7; Yashansh Malik lost to Robles 4-11, 11-6, 3-11; Sreeja Akula bt Zion Lee 11-5, 6-11, 11-8).

The standings: Dempo Goa Challengers 44 (5) Q, Jaipur Patriots 41 (5) Q, Dabang Delhi TTC 39 points (4 matches) Q, Kolkata ThunderBlades 36 (5), PBG Pune Jaguars 34 (5), U Mumba TT 32 (4),Ahmedabad SG Pipers 30 (5), Stanley’s Chennai Lions 29 (5).