UTT 2024: Empty seats greet Chennai Lions in season-opening thrashing

A mouthwatering clash featuring Indian stars Achanta Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra, tickets priced as low as ₹49, an air-conditioned venue on a sultry Friday evening, easy accessibility to local transport, and ambient LED lights flashing in sync with peppy Tamil numbers.

A five-minute contemplation might throw up five more reasons why it could have been safely presumed that home side Chennai Lions’ Ultimate Table Tennis season opener at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium would attract a sizeable crowd.

However, that wasn’t to be as the last year’s runner-up was greeted with empty seats sticking out like sore thumbs. The VIP area was close to being completely occupied, albeit mostly by dignitaries and families. It would be difficult to list out the reasons which might have deterred the otherwise sports-loving Chennai  makkal from thronging the stadium. The lack of vinyl advertisement banners in the city might just be one.

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With not many supportive voices ringing across the venue to egg the athletes on, the Lions eventually got thrashed 4-11 by the visiting PBG Bengaluru Smashers.

The veteran Sharath Kamal put on an insipid show, going down in both his fixtures.

The 42-year-old, paired up with Japan’s Sakura Mori in the mixed doubles, was made to work hard for every point by Anthony Amalraj and Lily Zhang in the blue corner. Amalraj, especially, was proving to be difficult to handle as he continued picking the ball early while staying close to the baseline. The Smashers’ duo won the first game by clinching the golden point and later the match point was bagged courtesy of an unforced error from the Japanese paddler.

Sharath’s struggles continued in the singles fixture as an unheralded Jeet Chandra chop-blocked his way to a 3-0 win.

On the day there seemed to have been a fault with the stars as Manika too conceded a defeat against Sakura. The nervy contest saw the World No. 30 prevail 5-11, 11-5, 11-10.

Jules Rolland of France and national title-holder Poymantee Baisya were the only Chennai players besides Sakura who could snatch a game apiece from Bengaluru.

Another debutant takes a beating

Earlier, the Puneri Paltan Table Tennis beat debutant Ahmedabad SG Pipers 10-5 to get its campaign up and running.

Paltan’s Ankur Bhattacharjee produced an upset for the ages, inflicting a clean sweep over Lilian Bardet, ranked 110 places above him. Son of renowned Bengal coach Anshuman, Ankur’s aggressive gameplay and in-your-face celebrations – which he claims to have picked up from cricketer Virat Kohli – may have messed with the Frenchman’s head.

The SG Pipers’ Manush Shah, 23, wasn’t even born when Paltan’s Joao Monteiro started featuring in the World Championships. The Portuguese paddler is, in fact, the only player to have participated in all edition of the Worlds since 2000.

However, the youngster’s countenance didn’t bear a hint of fear while going up against the four-time Olympian. He may have lost a few points and eventually, the first game owing to Monteiro’s wide forehand returns that had the Indian on the defensive, but cheered on by a vociferous dugout and aided by his wristy topspin, Manush rode home 5-11, 11-7, 11-6.

The much-anticipated clash between Bernadette Szocs and Ayhika Mukherjee lived up to expectations. The Indian continued to reap the benefits of the Dr. Neubauer Gorilla, an anti-type rubber, on the backhand and short pips on the forehand to upset the Romanian 11-7, 11-3, 11-6. Ayhika’s signature sliced underspin service troubled the former World No. 8 to great lengths; 69 per cent of the Indian’s points were won on serve.

Szocs redeemed herself in the mixed doubles round, winning 2-1 alongside Manush. Although Paltan took the first game, a brief injury break after Monteiro hurt his wrist seemed to have broken the momentum.