UTT | Jaguars ride high on Reeth and Anirban’s exploits

PBG Pune Jaguars stun U Mumba TT in nail-biter, marking sensational debut in Ultimate Table Tennis Season 6.

The Maharashtra derby lived up to its billing and offered the Ultimate Table Tennis Season 6 its first nail-biter as PBG Pune Jaguars — a rebranded team — stunned the fancied U Mumba TT to mark a sensational debut on Sunday.

Despite captain Alvaro Robles underperforming in the opening singles tie against an on-song Lilian Bardet, Dena Meshref kept the Jaguars in the hunt by stretching Bernadette Szocs.

The Indian duo of Anirban Ghosh and T. Reeth Rishya then punched above their weight in the last two singles outings to spark off celebrations in the Jaguars camp.

Ghosh — despite wasting four match points in the second game — won the decider against Akash Pal to stretch the tie into the deciding match, with the teams locked at six games apiece. Reeth then used all her experience to make it a forgettable UTT debut for Swastika Ghosh by maintaining a clean slate.

Reeth’s forehand reverse-pendulum serve — with side-spin and top-spin variations — left Swastika flummoxed. Reeth won service points at 9-9 in the first game and on the golden point of the second to seal the tie for the Pune outfit.

Earlier in the evening, U Mumba kept itself afloat with stunning comebacks. Szocs saved three match points in the second game before edging past left-handed Dina in the second game. Akash then started a stunning comeback against Anirban, thanks to a stunning forehand down-the-line block at 6-10 that started a five-point streak.

The point of the day was played in the first match. At 8-3 in the second game, Bardet won an 18-shot rally against Robles to start off a series of surprising results.