In the fourth season of Ultimate Table Tennis, the Bengaluru team has achieved its first victory. India's star table tennis player Manika Batra was the most important contributor to this victory of Bengaluru. India's highest-ranked women's table tennis player Manika Batra once again dominated the proceedings as she defeated Sutirtha Mukherjee to hand her team Bengaluru Smashers their first win of the season. With their 8-7 win over defending champions Chennai Lions, Bengaluru Smashers have now moved up to the fourth spot in the league table.

 

Manika, who had lost to defending national champion Sreeja Akula in her previous encounter. He did his best in this match as Chennai Lions won 2-1 against Paddler. The world number 35 started the first game with a bang and stunned Sutirtha with a powerful forehand. Later, Manika also used her accurate backhand to win the game by a margin of 11-6.

Sutirtha came back strongly in the second game. She took the lead early in the match and put Manika under pressure with her quick net play and accurate shots from both sides of the table. Sutirtha took the lead against her compatriot and then won the game through a golden point. Manika, however, came back strongly in the third game, taking full advantage of her experience and reach. The Asian Games bronze medalist did not allow Sutirtha to settle down and soon took the game 11-8 to win the match.

 

Earlier, veteran Achanta Sharath Kamal had to face defeat in his match. Kirill Gerasimenko took an early lead in the first game. The Indian paddler then came back in the game using his experience and accurate backhand shots to bring the scores to 10-10. However, Kirill sealed the game with a golden point. In the second game too, the Kazakh paddler took an early lead but two-time Asian Games medalist Achanta Sharath Kamal made a stunning comeback. Won the match 11-7 on the basis of top class top spin and side spin. The third game was also very exciting. Kirill won it via golden point.

 

In the third match of the tie, Manika and Kirill beat Sharath and Yangji Liu 2-1 to extend Bengaluru's lead to 6-3. Manika and Kirill initially found it difficult to play in sync. The Chennai Lions pair took advantage of this to win the first game 11-6, but the Bengaluru Smashers pair came back strongly and won the second game 11-9 to level the match. After this, Kirill and Manika used a quick pace to win the game 11-7 and extend their franchise's lead to 6-3.

 

India's rising star Jeet Chandra went down 1-2 to World No. 33 Benedict Duda, but Jeet was on top of his game during the match. The Indian paddler started the first game very confidently and stunned Duda with his energy and pinpoint shots to take the first game 11-9. However, the experienced German paddler responded positively after that and won the last two games 11-9, 11-7 to extend Bengaluru's lead to 7-5.

 

Yangzi beat Natalia Bajor 2-1 in the last match of the tie, but it was too late as Bengaluru Smashers picked up their first win of Season 4. Puneri Paltan will take on Dabang Delhi in the upcoming match on Friday.