Harmeet sets the tone as Maharashtra sweep Yoddhas

Maharashtra United started off in clinical fashion when Harmeet Desai started in an aggressive fashion to stun Panagiotis Gionis. Harmeet’s backhand smashes were the talk of the town as he raced to an early lead. Gionis then put up a smart display defence to reduce the deficit to 5-7 but Harmeet enforced unforced errors from the Greek player and took the first game 11-6.

Harmeet, ranked 79 in the world, then upped the ante with brilliant forehand display in the second game as the World No. 19 went awry with his plans. Gionis did well to bounce back and forced a golden point but he couldn’t get his forehand right and ended up netting it to give Maharashtra United a 2-0 lead.

Harmeet was even better in the third game and his forehand topspins were the difference. His winners were fierce and his placements were excellent as he gave his team a dream 3-0 start. In the process, Harmeet became the second Indian to beat a foreign player in the Ultimate Table Tennis League.

Manika Batra then tried to salvage some pride for Stag Yoddhas when she set up early winners to race to a four-point lead against Liu Jia but the foreigner bounced back to take the lead at 7-6. The Austrian’s back hand top spins turned out to be too hard for Manika to get going and coupled with unforced errors, Jia took the game in clinical fashion at 11-6 and take Maharashtra’s lead to 4-0. The 104-ranked Indian pulled one back in the fifth game giving Yoddhas their first win of the night when she won 11-5. Manika lost steam in the next match as Jia’s cross table forehands were too fast for the Indian.

Yoddhas came all guns blazing in the mixed doubles tie when Aruna Quadri and Manika steamrollered past Joao Monterio and Pooja Sahasrabuddhe 11-1. Quadri displayed spotless footwork and forehand skills as he thundered winners down the line, much to the dismay of the Maharashtra pair. The Yoddhas pair was so strong that Maharashtra didn’t have an answer to their attacking-defensive pairing.

Gionis was up against Monterio next and both the players playing defensive and close to the table, the first game went neck-to-neck. Maharashtra got back to winning ways when Monterio held his nerve at the golden point to force Gionis to hit his backhand wide. Montrio came up better prepared the next game as he won with minimum fuss at 11-3 and then changed the tempo into an attacking style to drub Gionis 3-0 in the fourth tie.

The women’s singles in the fifth match belonged to Yoddhas as Doo Hoi Kem beat Liu Jia 2-1 while young Indian Jubin Kumar took a game off Wong Chung Ting. At the end of six matches, Maharashtra United lead Stag Yoddhas by 11-7.

Yoddhas reduced the deficit by three when Kem beat Indian Kritwikka Sinha Roy 3-0. Kritwikka displayed flashes of brilliance with good all-round play but her was wayward in her attacking as she hit long and wide to hand over the match to Kem.

The eighth match between Quadri and Ting was intense as Quadri raced to a five-point lead in the first game before losing steam with a plethora of unforced errors by hitting the ball out at the far end. With both players attacking relentlessly, it was only fitting that a golden point was played in the course of the tie which Ting won when Quadri could only find the net. With just one point away from taking the day’s honours, Ting couldn’t control his shot at the second golden point in as many matches as he netted his forehand as Quadri took the third game and only delayed the inevitable for Maharashtra.

Fu Yu then won the first game against Polina Mikhailova in the ninth match to take Maharshtra past the 14-point mark. Polina pulled one back but Yu had the last laugh as Maharashtra won 15-12.

Panagiotis Gionis vs Harmeet Desai 0-3 (6-11, 10-11, 9-11)

Manika Batra vs Liu Jia 1-2 (6-11, 11-5, 7-11)

Aruna Quadri/Manika Batra vs Joao Monteiro/Pooja Sahasrabuddhe 3-0 (11-1, 11-4, 11-7)

Panagiotis Gionis vs Joao Monteiro 0-3 (10-11, 3-11, 4-11)

Doo Hoi Kem vs Liu Jia 2-1 (11-5, 11-7, 10-11)

Jubin Kumar vs Wong Chun Ting 1-2 (7-11, 11-8, 4-11)

Doo Hoi Kem vs Kritwikka Sinha Roy 3-0 (11-9, 11-3, 11-8)

Aruna Quadri vs Wong Chung Ting 1-2 (6-11, 10-11, 11-10)

Polina Mikhailova vs Fu Yu 1-2 (9-11, 11-7, 9-11)