UTT 2025: U Mumba bested as Sreeja continues to dictate terms on table, Ayhika helps Pipers tame Lions

Sreeja Akula, fresh off two straight victories in singles, would probably rank Thursday’s win at the Ultimate Table Tennis season 6 the highest.

She took down Bernadette Szocs, World No. 12 and the highest-ranked player in the league, as Jaipur Patriots edged U Mumba 8-7 in front of barely 100 people at the EKA Arena. Later in the day, home team Ahmedabad SG Pipers opened its account, pipping former champion Chennai Lions by an identical scoreline.

The Patriots camp, already in a buoyant mood after captain Kanak Jha handed Frenchman Lilian Bardet his first defeat of the campaign, had Sreeja lock horns with Romania’s Szocs next.

Mumba skipper, Szocs, surprised by the depth of Sreeja’s return, missed the ball completely on the second point of the opener. Instinctively, she looked up at her mother in the stands, who was trying to calm her down. She had to resort to her ultimate weapon, the tomahawk serve, to go 2-1 up.

However, unlike the first game of her 4-0 win over Sreeja at the ITTF World Cup in April, the Romanian couldn’t run away with this one. The Indian, who stayed within striking distance, came up with a forehand winner down the line at game point. Once the job was done, Sreeja could barely control her smile.

READ: UTT 2025: Izaac Quek aims to end Singapore’s 16-year medal drought at LA 2028 Olympics

“I was expecting a long serve in the centre but it was directed towards my body on the backhand side. It was a very unexpected and weird shot,” said the 26-year-old.

Coach Jay Modak’s advice to Szocs to use her opponent’s speed against her helped the Romanian take the match to a decider.

In the final game, it was a tip from Sreeja’s teammate Britt Eerland which proved crucial in a one-sided scoreline of 11-5, including an eight-point streak.

ALSO READ: UTT 2025: From Worlds medal to packed calendar, Bernadette Szocs enjoying life on the fast lane

“She just told me to keep her (Szocs) more towards her backhand side before attacking with my forehand which really helped,” revealed Sreeja.

Mumba was still in the tie when Akash Pal and Szocs blanked the Jha-Sreeja pair. Akash dominated the opener against Jeet Chandra but an inspired comeback from the latter turned the tide.

Yashaswini Ghorpade, who had been taking deep breaths in the warm-up area during Akash’s battle with Jeet, soon took centre stage for a winner-takes-all match with Eerland. But the Dutchwoman, a three-time Olympian, put the tie beyond Ghorpade and the Mumbai franchise’s reach by grabbing the first two games.

In the second tie of the day, a third straight loss for the Chennai franchise meant the road to the semifinals became even more difficult.

The host raced to a 5-1 lead after big-hitting German Ricardo Walther clean-swept Payas Jain, and Ayhika Mukherjee saved two match points to defeat fellow Bengali Poymantee Baisya.

Chennai’s experiment with a new mixed doubles combination of Poymantee and team captain Kirill Gerassimenko didn’t work either.

Gerassimenko registered his first win of the season against Snehit Suravajjula, and Fan Siqi’s 3-0 victory over Giorgia Piccolin gave the scoreline a respectable look.