Sathiyan, Manika register wins in Ultimate Table Tennis Season 4
Jul 18, 2023
Pune (Maharashtra) [India], July 18 : Star Indian paddlers Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Manika Batra notched-up thrilling victories in their respective matches in the ongoing Ultimate Table Tennis Season 4 at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Mahalunge-Balewadi in Pune on Tuesday.
Sathiyan began the tie for Dabang Delhi TTC on a winning note as he defeated Bengaluru Smashers' Kirill Gerassimenko 2-1 to gain two valuable team points. On the other hand, Manika, alongside Kirill Gerassimenko beat Sathiyan and Barbora Balazova by 2-1 to bring the Smashers back into the tie.
The pair of Manika and Krill played with supreme coordination and took the first game 11-4. They were at their imperious best in the second game as well they won it 11-6 before losing the third by 6-11.
The franchise-based league, promoted by Niraj Bajaj and Vita Dani under the auspices of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI).
Earlier, Sathiyan went into the attacking mode from the first serve and used his ferocious forehands to good effect to take the opening game by 11-6. Kirill made a strong comeback in the second game as he won it by 11-4 with his precise returns and quick forehands which put Sathiyan in trouble in the following game as well.
However, the Asian Games bronze medallist came from behind to earn a fantastic 11-9 victory over his opponent.
Ayhika Mukherjee also looked confident against World No. 42 Natalia Bajor in the second match (Women's Singles) of the tie and registered a 2-1 win to extend the lead of Dabang Delhi TTC.
The World No. 135 was magnificently accurate with her backhands against Natalia and took the first game by 11-7 before using the same strategy in the second game. Ayhika also brought her swift moments into the play and won the second game by 11-6. However, she lost the third game by 7-11 as Natalia kept Bengaluru Smashers in the tie.
