(by Steve Hopkins, photo UTT)
Bernadette Szocs scored 4 of her team’s 8 points as U Mumba TT takes out Dempo Goa Challengers 8-7 to advance to the Final of India’s Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) league.
U Mumba was the underdog in the matchup, as Dempo Goa were the second seeds in the Final as well as the defending league Champions. Harmeet Desai started things off well for Goa with a 3-0 win over Lilian Bardet. The next two matches, however, were Mumba wins with Bernadette Szocs winning 2-1 over Zheng Jian and then the team of Szocs and Akash Pal defeating the team of Jian and Desai 2-1. At that point, Dempo Goa won another match to extend their points lead, a 2-1 win by Vitor Ishiy to give Goa a sizeable 7-4 lead.
In the final match it came down to Yashaswini Ghorpade for Mumba and Krittwika Sinha Roy for Goa. Ghorpade needed to win all three games, and Roy needed a single win. The two knew each other well as they have been an Indian doubles team in many tournaments and international competions. On this day, however, the advantage went to Ghorpade winning the first game 11-9, winning the second game 11-9, and in the final game with the score tied 10-10, it was Ghorpade that completed the sweep sending U Mumba TT into the Final.
The UTT is in its sixth season – with league matches played with a similar structure to USA’s Major League Table Tennis except that the coed Indian structure is with the first match between the two top men, then a match between the top women, then a mixed doubles match, then a match between the second position men, and then a match between the second position women. In the UTT, men and women have an equal effect on the outcome of the match.
U Mumba TT will face the Jaipur Patriots – that is the team with USA’s top player, Kanak Jha. Like Mumba, Jaipur had an unlikely upset win in their Semifinal as they eliminated the top seeded Dabang Delhi team. Jaipur and Mumba will face off tomorrow in the Final. For more updates on UTT Season 6, visit Ultimate Table Tennis.
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