Ultimate Table Tennis 2017: Marcos Freitas, Madhurika Patkar star in Dabang Smashers TTC's victory

New Delhi: Marcos Freitas and Kim Song I recorded two wins each to lead Dabang Smashers TTC to a 16-11 victory over DHFL Maharashtra United in the 10th tie of the CEAT Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) at the Thyagaraj Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday. G Sathiyan put Dabang Smashers TTC ahead with a stunning 2-1 (11-3, 11-9, 7-11) win over Hong Kong World No 8 Wong Chun Ting in the men’s singles (Foreign v Indian), the day’s opening match. [caption id=“attachment_3844903” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Madhurika Patkar of Dabang Smashers TTC in action during the Tie 10 match. 
Photo : Sandeep Shetty/ Focus Sports / Ultimate Table Tennis[/caption] Sathiyan ran away with the opening game and then rallied back to clinch the second. Wong Chun Ting, however, came back strongly to win the third and bag a point for his team. North Korea World No 19 Kim Song I extended Dabang Smashers TTC’s lead to 4-2 with a 2-1 (11-2, 11-5, 9-11) victory over Pooja Sahasrabuddhe in the women’s singles (Foreign v Indian). In-form Kim Song I dominated the Indian World No 279 in the first two games but the Maharashtra lass rallied to win the third game to hand her side a second point. Next up was mixed doubles (Foreign/Indian pair), and Dabang Smashers TTC’s Anthony Amalraj/ Tetyana Bilenko registered a 2-1 (11-8, 11-4, 4-11) win over Harmeet Desai/ Liu Jia to further their team’s lead to 6-3. China-born Ukraine international Kou Lei, ranked No 28 in the world, pulled off a thrilling 2-1 (11-10, 11-9, 5-11) win over Wong Chun Ting in the men’s singles to give Dabang Smashers TTC a commanding 8-4 lead over DHFL Maharashtra United after four matches. However, Fu Yu scored a remarkable 3-0 (11-8, 11-10, 11-6) win over Tetyana Bilenko of Dabang Smashers TTC in the women’s singles to bring DHFL Maharashtra United back in contention at 7-8. But Marcos Freitas quelled a spirited challenge by DHFL Maharashtra United’s Harmeet Desai 2-1 (11-6, 8-11, 11-10) to extend Smashers’ lead to 10-8. Madhurika Patkar held her nerves when it mattered the most to beat Fu Yu 2-1 (11-9, 7-11, 11-10) in the women’s singles to help Smashers move to a 12-9 lead becoming the first Indian in CEAT UTT to beat an International opponent in singles. Freitas pulled off a second win of the day as he beat countryman and southpaw Joao Monteiro of DHFL Maharashtra United 2-1 (8-11, 11-10, 11-8) in the men’s singles to hand Dabang Smashers TTC a winning 14-10 lead. Kim Song I wrapped up the tie for Dabang Smashers TTC with a 2-1 (11-6, 9-11, 11-10) win over Liu Jia in the women’s singles (Foreign player category).