Englishman Liam Pitchford handed Falcons TTC a great start, stepping out in Mumbai to beat Harmeet Desai of Maharashtra United in straight sets. Desai showed a lot of zeal and verve, testing Pitchford’s footwork all around the table. This Game witnessed a battle of serves, with both athletes serving up consecutive super serves to keep the audience at the edge of their seats. Pitchford’s precision and technical ability were too much of a match for Desai, though, as he raced towards victory in Match 1.

Match 2 was the Women’s Singles game that witnessed Sutirtha Mukherjee register a surprise victory over Fu Yu. The first Game went according to plan for Fu Yu as she strolled to an 11-7 victory. But the tide was overturned in Game 2, as Sutirtha was spurred on by the enthusiastic Mumbai crowd dominating the Game. She showed no signs of taking her foot off the pedal, carrying the form into Game 3 to win the Match 2-1.

Match 3 witnessed an intense matchup as Maharashtra United’s Liu Jia and Harmeet Desai were made to work for every point in their 2-1 victory over Sanil Shetty and Lee Ho Ching in the Mixed Doubles encounter. That two Games were decided by a Golden Point was a testimony to the quality of competition on both sides. This Match could go anyone’s way, but it was Maharashtra United who emerged victorious in the end.

The captains of the two teams came out on the court in Match 4 of the Tie. This game turned out to be a delight to the onlookers, as they were treated to some explosive gameplay as Par Gerell and Joao Monteiro executed grueling rallies to earn their points. Monteiro emerged victorious in the Match, but Gerell won the final Game, and a lot of respect, with his persistence and determination throughout the Match.

Match 5 between the Falcons’ Wu Yang and Liu Jia of Maharashtra United was another close encounter. It could be considered an upset and a big win for Liu Jia as Wu Yang has been close to unbeatable in the competition. It was a perfect clash of attack vs. defence, as Liu Jia’s shots got the better of a higher ranked Wu Yang. It was a nerve-racking encounter, which went United’s way to give them a slender advantage after Game 5.

Sanil Shetty completed the second clean-sweep of the day and caused a major upset as he beat United’s captain Joao Monteiro 11-6, 11-8, 11-10. Sanil looked sharp from the word go, pulling off incredible forehand winners to dominate his opponent completely. Monteiro looked a shadow of his former self that defeated Par Gerell as he had no response to the young paddler. Falcons stretched their lead to four points, already securing a place in the semi-finals with Gerell’s win.

India’s Krittwika Roy faced Wu Yang in Match 7 of the Tie. This encounter was an easy victory for Wu Yang as Roy was no match for the world no. 13 player. Wu Yang steamrolled her opponent in straight Games 11-4, 11-4, 11-5, bringing the Falcons’ score up to 14-7.

With the Falcons’ spot confirmed, Liam Pitchford came back on the court to face Maharashtra United’s Wong Chun Ting in Match 8 of the Tie. Pitchford pushed Wong till a Golden Point, which was eventually won by Wong, but came back strong in Game 2 to win 11-9. Wong made easy work of his opponent in Game 3 as Pitchford slowly started making unforced errors, seemingly losing focus as the game wore on. The final score stood 2-1 in Wong Chun Ting’s favour.

The final Match of the night took place between United’s Portuguese Fu Yu and Lee Ho Ching from Hong Kong for the Falcons. Fu Yu’s aggressive style was too hot to handle for Lee Ho Ching in Game 1, but then the tables turned when Lee started seizing control in the next two Games. Fu Yu was forced into errors and looked lost as she failed to convert winners. The Tie ended 17-10 as Lee won the Match 2-1.

Shazé Challengers take on RP-SG Mavericks in the final Tie of the league stage on the 27th of July.