Going into the Tie, Oilmax-Stag Yoddhas had lost their previous encounter while Shazé Challengers were riding high on confidence from their previous win.

The opening Tie of the round placed underdog Soumyajit Ghosh against hot favourite Aruna Quadri. While Quadri was expected to breeze through the Match, that wasn’t to be the case. Ghosh played with plenty of hunger and fire to claim the Match. Winning the first Game 11-2, Ghosh would go on to lose the second, but came back strongly in the third 11-8. Ghosh’s early show gave Shazé Challengers the lead after Match 1.

Perhaps the most entertaining Match of the night turned out to be Manika Batra against Han Ying. The German would go down in the first Game, as the crowd roared Manika on. Ying’s fascinating defensive display allowed her to claim the second Game. The third went down to the Golden Point, as both players traded points. However, where it was agony for Manika, it was joy for Han Ying, as she won the Game and consequently the Match.

Moving on to Match 3, it was Abhishek Yadav’s debut in CEAT Ultimate Table Tennis. The young Indian partnered with Doo Hoi Kem as they faced Soumyajit Ghosh and Petrissa Solja. Yadav showed no signs of nerves, as he played with fiery intensity and fearlessness. The left-handed paddler’s powerful shots caught his opponents by surprise regularly. After the first Game was decided by a Golden Point, the next two were straightforward. Yadav turned out to be the surprise package of the night and with every point, the crowd cheered him on.

Aruna Quadri returned to the court with Andrej Gacina in his path. The former hoped to turn things around for himself, while Gacina was hoping to get his team back to winning ways. However, it was Quadri who triumphed. Despite losing the first Game, Quadri came back hard and strong and won the next two.

Polina Mikhailova would play her first Match of the night when she faced Han Ying in Match 5. It was a game that saw two contrasting styles, as Ying favoured a more defensive approach as compared to Mikhailova’s power. Defence triumphed this time as Han Ying won 2-1 with an extraordinary 92% shots chopped.

Gacina hoped to turn his fortunes around when he faced Jubin Kumar next. While Gacina’s previous Match proved to be a tough fight, this one was more comfortable for the Shazé Challengers skipper. Gacina stormed to victory winning 11-5, 11-8, and 11-2 as Jubin Kumar offered little resistance.

Mikhailova vs Mouma Das up next, and it was the Oilmax-Stag Yoddhas paddler that came out on top. Mikhailova’s aggressive nature was too hot to handle for Mouma Das, who succumbed to a 3-0 loss. Das had little answers to Mikhailova’s repeated questions, and in the long run this proved to be a vital win for the Yoddhas.

Into Match 8, debutant Tomislav Pucar had his work cut out for him when he faced Li Ping. While the Oilmax-Stag Yoddhas player took the first Game, Li Ping romped away to the other two. That win set-up a perfect final last Match, as both teams went in on level terms.

Petrissa Solja and Doo Hoi Kem had it all to play for. What followed was three Games that were hotly contested between the two players. Doo Hoi Kem, however, put on an amazing display that earned her three wins in the three Games. Oilmax-Stag Yoddhas stormed to their first victory in CEAT UTT at Shazé Challengers’ cost and won the Tie 15-12.