Veterans A. Sharath Kamal and Aruna Quadri, helped by the stylish Sofia Polcanova and Chih Yuan Chuang, helped Warriors TTC resurrect its CEAT Ultimate Table Tennis campaign with a comfortable 14-7 win against the Emowerji Challengers.
The win helped Warriors rise to the third spot on the points table with 21, before the action moves to New Delhi, while Challengers continue to be in the bottom two.
Quadri, up against the promising Manav Thakkar in the second match, showed his experience by waging an all-out aggressive battle against the Indian.
The win negated the deficit caused by Sreeja Akula’s 3-0 defeat to Lee Ho Ching in the opener.
Sharath then took centrestage with Sofia Polcanova and the duo staved off a tough challenge posed by Arjun Fhosh and Lee Ho Ching.
Chuang helped Warriors open a wide gap with a clean sweep against Simon Gauzy, Polcanova won an all-European battle against Georgina Pota before Sharath sealed the tie despite losing against Portugal’s Tiago Apolonia.
The experienced Hana Matelova then made short work of local girl Divya Deshpande to end the tie on a high for Warriors.
The results: Warriors TTC bt Empowerji Challengers 14-7 (Sreeja Akula lost to Lee Ho Ching 11-7, 11-5, 11-6; Aruna Quadri bt Manav Thakkar 11-8, 11-7, 11-3; A. Sharath Kamal & Sofia Polcanova bt Arjun Ghosh & Lee Ho Ching 6-11, 11-10, 11-8; Chih Yuan Chuang bt Simon Gauzy 11-7, 11-6, 11-8; Polcanova bt Georgina Pota 10-11, 11-4, 11-2; Sharath Kamal lost to Tiago Apolonia 11-5, 11-6, 6-11; Hana Matelova bt Divya Deshpande 11-8, 11-7, 11-9).
The standings: Dabang Smashers TTC 31 points, RP-SG Mavericks 24, Warriors TTC 21, Maharashtra United 20, Falcons TTC 15, Empowerji Challengers 15 .
