UTT: Manav stars for U Mumba

Representational picture

New Delhi: India's rising star Manav Thakkar produced a fine effort to pull U Mumba from the brink and hand his side a thrilling 9-6 victory over RP-SG Mavericks Kolkata in the Ultimate Table Tennis League here on Thursday. Down 2-4 after the first two matches -- the women's singles and men's singles -- Manav and world no.11 Doo Hoi Kem clinched three points against RP-SG Mavericks Kolkata to set up U Mumba's second win in the tournament.

Even in the mixed doubles tie, U Mumba were trailing 0-7 in the first set but a series of attacking shots from Manav got them going, turning the tide and giving them a golden point set. In the next two sets, they were right on top, stunning Sanil Shetty and Matilda Ekholm 11-6 11-7. Manav was in his elements in the crucial reverse men's singles encounter, getting the better of Sanil Shetty 2-1. U Mumba needed just one point going into the final match, but Sutirtha Mukherjee did one better, surprising Manika Batra 2-1 to give her side a massive win. Earlier, RP-SG began on a positive note with Sweden's Matilda shocking Hong Kong's Doo Hoi Kem 2-1. Matilda dominated the first set, easily winning it 11-5. Hoi Kem played to her potential in the next for a dominant 11-3 win.

The two matched each other shot for shot in the decider before Matilda outwitted Hoi Kem 11-8. In the men's singles encounter, German paddler Benedikt Duda consolidated RP-SG's score, pocketing a crucial golden point win over Kirill Gerassimenko in the first set. In the second, however, he failed to make the best of a 7-3 advantage and ended up losing on golden point. Duda went on to win the final set 11-7 to make it 4-2 for RP-SG. Then Manav came in the fray and looked in top of his game in both the mixed doubles and return men's singles to clinch the tie for U Mumba.

Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates