RP-SG Mavericks registered their first victory in the CEAT UTT by beating Dabang Smashers 14-13 in a thrilling contest at Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium on Thursday.

The Smashers started the Tie on a good note, as Sathiyan claimed a surprising 2-1 win over Stefan Fegerl in the Men’s Singles category. Buoyed by the support of the home fans, Sathiyan cruised to a win in the first Game 11-5. The second Game was a close-fought one but Fegerl’s service errors at crucial junctures gave the local lad the advantage, as he bagged the second 11-9. The final Game went through the distance but Fegerl hit a powerful flick from close to the net to clinch the Golden Point and open the account for the Mavericks.

Tetyana Bilenko extended the Smashers’ lead to 4-2 by winning the second Match 2-1 against Archana Kamath. The 17-year-old won the first Game with some stunning forehand strokes but capitulated to Bilenko’s defence in the next Game. Game three saw Kamath produce moments of brilliance, but Bilenko eventually won the match 11-8.

Match 3 was the perfect opportunity for the Mavericks to swing the momentum in their favour, and the mixed doubles pairing of Sharath Kamal and Sofia Polcanova did exactly the same and pulled off a thumping 3-0 win over Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Kim Song I

Despite going ahead, the Mavericks weren’t able to capitalize on their lead. Koi Lei faced Tiago Apolonia in the fourth Tie and the Ukrainian bagged the first Game comfortably with 11-3. Apolonia fought tooth and nail in the second and saved two Match points before taking the Golden Point to win 11-10. The 30-year-old had to fight again in the third Game and, in fact, he saved five Match points, but on that occasion, Lei took the Golden Point to clinch the Match 2-1.

Sabine Winter, who is yet to win a Match against foreign opponents took on Kim Song I in the fifth Match. It was the perfect opportunity for Winter to erase that underwhelming record, but she couldn’t do so, as Song was all over her. The Korean won the first two Games 11-8, 11-8 and she was extremely dominant with her serve throughout the Match. The final Game looked really tight but Winter held her nerve and won with a thunderous backhand winner way away from the table.

In Match 6, local hero Sharath Kamal took on Portuguese left-hander Marcos Freitas. With the Smashers in the lead heading into the Tie, the situation demanded Kamal to be the hero and he looked splendid in the first two Games, winning 11-8 and 11-9 respectively. But Freitas stormed his way back in and won the third Game comfortably 11-5, as Sharath celebrated with the crowd having sealed the Match 2-1.

Winter came back and faced India’s Madhurika Patkar in the seventh Match of the Tie. The German had no let up against Madhurika and used his dominant forehands to good extent. Despite losing the first two Games, Patkar played well but couldn’t match up with Winter in the third. Eventually, the 24-year-old won all three Games to give Mavericks 12-9 lead in the Tie.

Freitas and Fegerl were back on the court for Match seven of the Tie. Freitas started off very aggressively and bagged the first two Games 11-5, 11-5 without any pressure. Fegerl came back strongly and pulled the Game in his favour by winning the Golden Point to make it 1-2 in the match.

It was 13-11 heading into the final Game of the Tie, as Polcanova faced Bilenko. All it needed for RP-SG Mavericks was to win one Game to clinch the Tie, and Polcanova did exactly the same. She started off well and sealed the first Game 11-8 but Bilenko came back hard at her opponent and won eventually the second 11-7. The third Game was enticing, as Bilenko came from behind and took the game 11-10.

The next Tie will witness Shaze Challengers take on the Falcons TTC on the 21st of July