UTT: Sreeja helps Jaipur defeat Chennai

AHMEDABAD: Clean sweeps by Kanak Jha and Sreeja Akula set Jaipur Patriots en route to a 9-6 win in the Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) Season 6 on Tuesday, despite a late, spirited fightback from Stanley’s Chennai Lions. With the season now underway, all ties will be broadcast on Star Sports Khel and Star Sports 2 Tamil, and streamed live on JioHotstar for fans across the country.

USA’s top-ranked male paddler, Jha became the first player in league history to win a match with three Golden Points in his 3-0 triumph over Kirill Gerassimenko. Subsequently, India’s top-ranked female paddler, Sreeja, followed with a clinical 3-0 win over Nationals’ gold medalist Poymantee Baisya as Jaipur raced to a 6-0 lead.

Having won their opening battles, Jha and Sreeja then paired up to stretch Jaipur’s winning start to eight games, sealing their first tie win of the campaign with a commanding 2-1 win in mixed doubles over Payas Jain and Fan Siqi.

But Chennai showed late resolve. Payas responded with a 3-0 win over Yashansh Malik in a clash of Delhi talents, while Fan, the league’s highest-valued player, added two more games in her 2-1 win against Britt Eerland. Though the result was sealed, the Lions clawed back six valuable games, potentially crucial when table standings tighten at the business end of the league.

Sreeja took home the dual honours of the Indian Player and Shot of the Tie for her displays, while Jha picked up the Foreign Player of the Tie award.

Earlier, at the Dream UTT Juniors—a joint initiative by UTT and Dream Sports Foundation—Kolkata ThunderBlades and Dempo Goa Challengers cruised to identical 7-2 wins over Dabang Delhi TTC and PBG Pune Jaguars, respectively. Ritvik Gupta and Swara Karmakar led the charge for Kolkata, each securing singles victories while combining for a dominant doubles win. For Goa, Sahil Rawat and Aarya Redkar delivered in style, winning all three match-ups against PBG Pune Challengers.