World No. 13 Bernadette Szocs and Manush Shah led the charge as Ahmedabad SG Pipers waltzed into the semi-finals in style with a 12-3 thrashing of Jaipur Patriots in a rather one-sided last league tie of the IndianOil Ultimate Table Tennis 2024 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai on Wednesday.

Ahmedabad SG Pipers have thus finished the league stage in the second spot with 42 points. They also broke the hearts of the local fans by knocking out home favourites Chennai Lions out of the competition. Chennai Lions were placed fourth before the start of Wednesday’s tie and were hoping that the Jaipur Patriots would help them go through to the next stage.

But Jaipur Patriots ended their debut UTT campaign in the last position in the eight-team league with 28 points.

The franchise-based league is promoted by Niraj Bajaj and Vita Dani under the auspices of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI). Tickets are available online on BookMyShow and offline at the box office near Gate No. 1 of the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium.

Coming into Wednesday’s tie, both teams needed to win big to enter the Last-4 stage, and it was Ahmedabad SG Pipers who dominated the contest by winning all the matches against a somewhat listless Jaipur Patriots.

Ahmedabad SG Pipers were off to a good start as Lilian Bardet defeated Cho Seungmin 2-1 (11-9, 11-10, 10-11) in the first men’s singles, although the South Korean did take a valuable point to keep Jaipur Patriots in contention for the knockouts.

However, the Jaipur-based franchise needed to win every game from thereon in order to qualify for the semi-finals, and their hopes came crashing down during the first women’s singles when Bernadette drubbed Suthasini Sawettabut 3-0 (11-10, 11-3, 11-6) as Ahmedabad SG Pipers ran away to a healthy 5-1 lead.

Bernadette gave Ahmedabad SG Pipers fans more reasons to smile when she teamed up with Manush to beat the Jaipur Patriots pair of Nithyashree Mani and Cho 2-1 (11-9, 11-5, 8-11) in the mixed doubles match. That win saw Bernadette and Manush maintain their all-win record this season and ensured that the Ahmedabad-based franchise would go through to the knockout stage.

Manush continued the domination for Ahmedabad SG Pipers, outclassing Snehit SFR 2-1 (11-6, 11-6, 8-11) in the second men’s singles. Reeth Rishya rounded off a successful evening for Ahmedabad SG Pipers by outclassing Moumita Dutta 3-0 (11-10, 11-9, 11-10) in the second women’s singles.

Heading into the knockouts, PBG Bengaluru Smashers, with 48 points, ended as the leaders on the points table, and they will take on the defending champions Athlead Goa Challengers, who finished fourth with 37 points, in the first semi-final on Thursday.

In the other semi-final on Friday, Ahmedabad SG Pipers, who ended second with 42 points after the league stage, will face third-placed Dabang Delhi T.T.C. (41 points) for a place in the IndianOil UTT 2024 summit clash, scheduled for Saturday.

Detailed Scores: Ahmedabad SG Pipers bt Jaipur Patriots 12-3
Lilian Bardet bt Cho Seungmin 2-1 (11-9, 11-10, 10-11)
Bernadette Szocs bt Suthasini Sawettabut 3-0 (11-10, 11-3, 11-6)
Bernadette Szocs/Manush Shah bt Nithyashree Mani/ Cho Seungmin 2-1 (11-9, 11-5, 8-11)
Manush Shah bt Snehit SFR 2-1 (11-6, 11-6, 8-11)
Reeth Rishya bt Moumita Dutta 3-0 (11-10, 11-9, 11-10)

Semi-final line-up:
September 5: PBG Bengaluru Smashers (1st place) vs Athlead Goa Challengers (4th place) at 7:30 PM IST
September 6: Ahmedabad SG Pipers (2nd place) vs Dabang Delhi T.T.C. (3rd place) at 7:30 PM IST