Defending champions Athlead Goa Challengers inched closer to the semi-finals with a narrow 8-7 win against U Mumba TT in a closely-contested IndianOil Ultimate Table Tennis 2024 tie at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai on Monday.

Athlead Goa Challengers are now in third place on the league table with 37 points, while U Mumba TT are placed fourth with 36 points.

The franchise-based league is promoted by Niraj Bajaj and Vita Dani under the auspices of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI). Tickets are available online on BookMyShow and offline at the box office near Gate No. 1 of the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium.

In the first men’s singles, Quadri Aruna edged out Harmeet Desai 2-1 (11-7, 4-11, 11-10) in a tight contest to hand U Mumba TT the early advantage. Maria Xiao, who was later adjudged the Foreign Player of the Match, bolstered the lead for U Mumba TT with a 2-1 (9-11, 10-11, 11-9) win in the first women’s singles against Yangzi Liu, who has now lost three matches on the trot this season.

Yangzi Liu made amends when she joined Harmeet Desai to beat the U Mumba TT pair of Maria Xiao and Manav Thakkar 2-1 (11-6, 10-11, 11-7) in the mixed doubles match to reduce the deficit for Athlead Goa Challengers.

Mihai Bobocica came up with an impressive performance to beat the talented Manav Thakkar 2-1 (11-6, 11-8, 7-11) as Athlead Goa Challengers drew level at six points each. Yashaswini Ghorpade, who was deservingly adjudged the Indian Player of the Tie, sealed the tie in favour of the defending champions with a 2-1 (11-8, 11-10, 10-11) victory against Sutirtha Mukherjee.

On Tuesday, former champions Chennai Lions will lock horns with Puneri Paltan Table Tennis with one eye on making it to the last-four stage.

Scores

Athlead Goa Challengers bt U Mumba TT 8-7: Harmeet Desai lost to Aruna Quadri 2-1 (7-11, 11-4, 10-11) Yangzi Liu lost to Maria Xiao 2-1 (11-9, 10-11, 9-11) Yangzi Liu/Harmeet Desai bt Maria Xiao/Manav Thakkar 2-1 (11-6, 10-11, 11-7) Mihai Bobocica bt Manav Thakkar 2-1 (11-6, 11-8, 7-11) Yashaswini Ghorpade bt Sutirtha Mukherjee 2-1 (11-8, 11-10, 10-11)