Dabang Smashers emerged victorious in a nail-biting Tie against Oilmax-Stag Yoddhas at the Thyagaraj stadium in Delhi, on Tuesday.

The Smashers were off to a great start, as the in-form Sathiyan Gnanasekaran beat Tomislav Pucar 2-1 in the opening Match of the Tie. The aggressive Chennai paddler was spot on with his serves throughout the Match, winning 18 points to Pucar’s 14. Sathiyan won the first two Games with ease, but Pucar recovered well and won the third with 11-6, to seal the first point for the Yoddhas. This was Sathiyan’s fourth consecutive win in CEAT UTT.

With huge cheers from the home crowd, Manika Batra stepped on to the court to face Kim Song I in the second match of the Tie. The first Game got really tight, as both players were very strong with their forehands, but Batra held the nerve and won it 11-9. Although Kim started off well in the next, she made errors in the crucial moments to lose 9-11. The third Game was a one-way tussle, with Kim sealing the Game 11-4 to level the tie 4-4.

Aruna Quadri and Manika Batra got the better off Amalraj and Bilenko in the enticing third Match of the Tie. After sealing the tense first Game, the Smashers’ duo had no answers to Quadri’s belligerent forehands in the remaining two Games. Eventually, Quadri and Batra won 11-9 and 11-9 to put the Yoddhas ahead with 5-4.

Pucar’s dismal run in the Tie continued, as he was defeated by Kou Lei in the fourth Match. The Ukrainian paddler bagged the first Game, but Pucar rallied back brilliantly and was leading 8-5. He couldn’t sustain the momentum though, with Lei saving a couple of Match points to clinch the Game 11-10. The third Game saw some cracking rallies from both players, however, Pucar pulled things back to win it 11-9.

The fifth Match of the Tie saw an enticing encounter, as Tetyana Bilenko pulled off a remarkable 2-1 win over world number 8, Doo Hoi Kem. Bilenko’s solid backhand defensive rallies pushed Kem to commit a lot of unforced errors. The Ukrainian won the first two Games 11-8 11-8, much to the delight of the crowd. The third Game kept the roaring fans on the edge of their seats, as Bilenko came from behind and compensated the healthy lead from Kem. The 33-year-old won a 41-shot rally to make it 10-10 but hit the chop long in the Golden Point.

Marcos Freitas extended the Smashers’ lead to 11-7, by trouncing Jubin Kumar 3-0 in the sixth Match of the Tie. Freitas went all guns blazing right from the start and Kumar never plagued the Portuguese in any of the Games.  

Doo Hoi Kem came back and pulled the Yoddhas back into contention, with a thumping 3-0 win over Madhurika Patkar. The Indian paddler was up to the task in the initial proceeding of the first Game, but Kem kept her cool and won it 11-9. After losing the opening Game, Patkar looked frustrated, made a lot of errors, which helped Kem bag the next two Games easily at 11-5 and 11-7 respectively.

The penultimate Match of the Tie between Aruna Quadri and Marcos Freitas turned out to be a treat for the Delhi crowd. Both players came up with some scintillating rallies throughout the Match. Quadri bagged the first Game, before Freitas rallied back and won the next to level things at 1-1. In the third Game, both players went neck-to-neck but Quadri came up with a thunderous forehand to clinch the Match in a Golden Point to level the Tie at 12-12.

The Yoddhas made an incredible comeback to level things, as it boiled down to the last Match between Kim Song I and Polina Mikhailova to decide the Tie. Kim never allowed Mikhailova to settle initially and took the opening Game at 11-4. The Russian staged a brilliant comeback and hit some astonishing backhand winners to bag the second. The deciding Game of the Tie was evenly poised at 9-9, but Mikhailova missed two easy forehand smashes, much to the agony of the Yoddhas’ bench. Eventually, the Smashers edged the Tie 14-13.