Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], September 4 (ANI): World number 13, Bernadette Szocs, and Manush Shah led the charge as Ahmedabad SG Pipers waltzed into the semi-finals in style with a 12-3 thrashing of the Jaipur Patriots in a rather one-sided last league tie of the Ultimate Table Tennis 2024 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai on Wednesday.
Ahmedabad SG Pipers have thus finished the league stage at the second spot with 42 points. They also broke the hearts of the local fans by knocking out home favourites Chennai Lions out of the competition. Chennai Lions were placed fourth before the start of Wednesday’s tie and were hoping that the Jaipur Patriots will help them go through to the next stage.
But Jaipur Patriots ended their debut UTT campaign at the last position in the eight-team league with 28 points.
Coming to Wednesday’s tie, both teams needed to win big to enter the Last-4 stage and it were Ahmedabad SG Pipers who dominated the contest by winning all the matches against a somewhat listless Jaipur Patriots.
Ahmedabad SG Pipers were off to a good start as Lilian Bardet defeated Cho Seungmin 2-1 (11-9, 11-10, 10-11) in the first men’s singles although the South Korean did take a valuable point to keep Jaipur Patriots in contention for the knockouts.
However, the Jaipur-based franchise needed to win every game from thereon in order to qualify for the semi-finals and their hopes came crashing down during the first women’s singles when Bernadette drubbed Suthasini Sawettabut 3-0 (11-10, 11-3, 11-6) as Ahmedabad SG Pipers ran away to a healthy 5-1 lead.
Bernadette gave the Ahmedabad SG Pipers fans more reasons to smile when she teamed up with Manush to beat the Jaipur Patriots pair of Nithyashree Mani and Cho 2-1 (11-9, 11-5, 8-11) in the mixed doubles match. That win saw Bernadette and Manush maintain their all-win record this season and ensured that the Ahmedabad-based franchise will go through to the knockout stage.
Manush continued the domination for Ahmedabad SG Pipers, outclassing Snehit SFR 2-1 (11-,11-6, 8-11) in the second men’s singles. Reeth Rishya rounded off a successful evening for Ahmedabad SG Pipers by outclassing Moumita Dutta 3-0 (11-10, 11-9, 11-10) in the second women’s singles.
Heading into the knockouts, PBG Bengaluru Smashers, with 48 points, ended as the leaders on the points table, and they will take on the defending champions Athlead Goa Challengers, who finished fourth with 37 points, in the first semi-final on Thursday.
In the other semifinal on Friday, Ahmedabad SG Pipers, who ended second with 42 points after the league stage, will face third-placed Dabang Delhi TTC (41 points) for a place in the UTT 2024 summit clash, scheduled for Saturday. (ANI)
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