Chennai: Oilmax Stag Yoddhas rode on the brilliance of their Hong Kong star Doo Hoi Kem to snuff out the resistance of iProspect Challengers 15-12 and record their first win in the inaugural CEAT Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT), the country’s first-ever professional table tennis league, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, Chennai on Monday.
In an encounter that went down to the wire, which also meant the winner takes it all in the deciding ninth encounter had Yoddhas’ Doo Hoi Kem down Petrissa Solj 3-0 (11-9, 11-7, 11-9) and thereby make it her team’s day.
Yoddhas put on a spirited performance, winning three matches with 3-0 margins to stamp their class on the tournament.
Earlier, the squad’s Greek star Panagiotis Gionis reported injured and had to pull out of the tournament. Panagiotis was replaced by Croatian Tomislav Pucar, who flew in Monday to join the franchise.
Yoddhas drafted in Qadri Aruna to play the opening men’s singles match. Qadri pitted against India’s Soumyajit Ghosh pushed the game to three games, but lost out 1-2 (2-11, 11-9, 8-11).
Next up, Manika Batra opened with promise by pulling a game off her German rival Han Ying, but eventually failed to hold up and lost 1-2 (11-8, 5-11, 10-11). The two singles losses meant Yoddhas trailed 2-4.
Yoddhas then fought back with the tie changer coming when their Indo-Hong Kong mixed doubles pair of Abhishek Yadav/ Doo Hoi Kem won their encounter 3-0. In a tight match, the Yoddhas duo beat beat Soumyajit Ghosh/ Petrissa Solja 11-10, 11-9, 11-6. The result turned the entire complexion of the tie and Yoddhas for the first time led 5-4.
The fourth match had Yoddhas’ 28-year old Nigerian Quadri Aruna bounce back from his first singles loss and down Andrej Gacina 2-1 (10-11, 11-6, 11-3). The win was Qadri’s first in the league. Qadri began with a shock opening game reverse. The Nigerian stormed back winning the second 11-6 and then was unstoppable in the third winning 11-3.
Leading the tie 7-5, by virtue of Qadri’s win, Yoddhas’ fifth match had Russian Polina Mikhailova fight out a stiff battle against a defensive Han Ying, but she eventually went down 1-2.
Polina lost the first game 8-11 and in the next matched every point against Han. The game included playing out the 19th point over a 64 shot rally which went against her in the final analysis. However, Polina held her nerves to win the next two points and win 11-10 to level the level her encounter. The third had Polina go down 8-11.
Yoddhas’ loss proved costly as the scoreline was cut to just one with the score now reading 8-7.
Next up, Yoddhas had Jubin Kumar shockingly lose to Andrej Gacina 0-3. As a result, Yoddhas trailed the tie 8-10. Jubin was no match to Andrej and managed just 16 points in his 5-11, 8-11, 3-11 loss.
Lining up for Yoddhas’ eighth encounter was Polina, who put on a vintage performance to win 3-0 against Mouma Das. Winning 11-7, 11-7, 11-8, Polina not only wiped off Yoddha’s defict, but put them back in the lead at 11-10.
Yoddhas newest arrival Tomislav, who landed in the city early evening, was up next against Li Ning. Ranked No. 80 in the world, the 6 feet 5 inch Croat did well against his Chinese-born opponent who is ranked at 42. Tomislav began winning the first 11-9, but then the experience of Ping was a shade too hard to handle as a result the Yoddhas challenger lost 6-11, 9-11.
The result of this encounter meant the tie score was level at 12-12, leaving Doo Hoi Kem to settle the issue with a 3-0 singles win.
RESULTS
Oilmax-Stag Yoddhas b iProspect Challengers: 15-12 (Quadri Aruna lost to Soumyajit Ghosh 2-11, 11-9, 8-11; Manika Batra lost to Han Ying 11-8, 5-11, 10-11; Abhishek Yadav/ Doo Hoi Kem b Soumyajit/ Petrissa Solja 11-10, 11-9, 11-6; Quadri Aruna b Andrej Gacina 10-11, 11-6, 11-3; Polina Mikhailova lost to Han Ying 8-11, 11-10, 8-11; Jubin Kumar lost to Andrej Gacina 5-11, 8-11, 3-11; Polina Mikhailova b Mouma Das 11, 7, 11-7, 11-8; Tomislav Pucar lost to Li Ping 11-9, 6-11, 9-11; Doo Hoi Kem b Petrissa Solj 11-9, 11-7, 11-9).
