Tie 7 marked a red-letter day for the Falcons TTC in the CEAT UTT, as they set a record by registering the largest victory in the tournament by beating the Oilmax-Stag Yoddhas 22 games to 5. The largest victory set last night by Maharashtra United lasted for barely 24 hours, courtesy some dominant display of table tennis by the Falconry.

Sanil Shetty came out top for the team in yellow, beating Quadri Aruna 3-0 in Match 1 of the night. The southpaw is developing a reputation for being quite the giant killer, causing some upsets in the tournament with his elegantly aggressive style on the court. Quadri might’ve been taken aback by Shetty in Game 1, and upped his game to take the next encounter to a Golden Point. But Shetty kept up his dominance and won the point and also Game 3, to make it a clean sweep.

Game 2 followed a similar script, as Wu Yang subdued India’s Manika Batra in straight Games. The crowd was completely behind one of India’s highest-ranked players, but she fell short against the Chinese ace. The only positives Batra can take from the game are her perfect push shots in defence, and her winning smashes.

The mixed doubles duo of Lee Ho Ching and Sanil Shetty made it nine wins in nine games, as they trounced Doo Hoi Kem and Abhishek Yadav 3-0. The Falcons TTC duo showed good chemistry at the table as they completely dominated their opponents, giving them no chance to even get a foot in the door, completely shutting them out.

Tomislav Pucar finally won a Game for the Yoddhas in Match 4, as he beat captain Par Gerell 11-9 in Game 1. That moment was short-lived, though, as Gerell came back strong to win the next two games in the evenly matched encounter and widen the gap between the two teams. Pucar has an all-around game to counter the Swede’s own, but on the day, it was Gerell who pounced on the opportunity when Pucar made some unforced errors.

The Falconry’s dominance continued in Match 5, with Lee Ho Ching leading the assault this time, humbling Polina Mikhailova 11-3, 11-6, 11-4. Ching pushed Mikhailova into playing defensively and also forced her into errors that worked to her advantage. Along with Mikhailova being pushed back, Ching upped her offense, playing more aggressive shots as the matched progressed registering a score of 13-1 for the Falcons at the end of the Match.

Par Gerell continued where he left off, beating Abhishek Yadav comprehensively by three Games to nil in Match 6. It was Yadav’s debut in a singles game, and he was visibly excited as he took on Gerell, ranked much higher than him. The captain made light work of the youngster, handing him a lesson in table tennis from which Yadav can only improve, picking up the Best Foreign Player of the Tie award on the way.

Polina Mikhailova was the only shining light for the Yoddhas as she beat Suthirtha Mukherjee in straight sets. It was almost not to be, as Mukherjee pushed the Russian to a Golden Point in Game 1 of Match 8. Mukherjee displayed enormous grit as she put up quite a fight against the superior Mikhailova, but the result was as predicted, the Yoddhas finally registering a Match win in the Tie.

Aruna Quadri came out in Match 8 with an intent to make amends for his loss against Shetty, but Liam Pitchford was having none of it, beating the Nigerian 11-9, 7-11, 11-9. The Match produced some stunning rallies, with both players putting up a brilliant display of agility and reflexes. Both matched in the offensive department with 21 offensive winning shots. Quadri Aruna’s only win in Game 2 was to be the final point of the day for the Yoddhas.

The final Match of the day witnessed the clash of the Titans, as Doo Hoi Kem of the Yoddhas took on Wu Yang of the Falcons. The game that promised to be entertaining was quickly put to bed by Yang, as she swept all three Games. Yang called upon her experience over the youngster from Hong Kong by patiently building up rallies to get a point, epitomizing her calmness in the game. The 3-0 victory ensured that the Falcons TTC top the CEAT UTT table, displacing Maharashtra United.

Tie 8 will witness Dabang Smashers TTC take on RP-SG Mavericks on 20^thJuly.