At most events, the final is usually more
anti-climatic than the semi-finals. The final of the Ultimate Table Tennis was
no different. After two semi-finals which were decided on the final play of the
tie, the final saw Chennai Lions dominate Delhi Dabang and claim the title in
just over an hour in New Delhi.
Chennai were so dominant in the final that they
won the final in a total of nine sets only. The team which first wins eight
sets out of the total 15 in the entire wins is declared the winner. Chennai did
that by winning their matches 2-1, 3-0 and 3-0. Delhi, led by India’s top men’s
singles player Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, were a shadow of the team in they were in
the semi-finals, in which they had beaten table-toppers U Mumba 8-7. Chennai,
however, gave them no chance.
The final began with the women’s singles match
between Solia Petrissa of Chennai and Bernadette Szocs of Delhi. Patricia
turned the momentum in Chennai’s favour after winning the first set 11-5 after
being level at 5-5. The second set was even more one-sided as she won 11-4.
Szocs did bounce back and won the final set 9-11 to put her team on the
scorecard. But it did not matter in the end as Tiago Apolonia in men’s singles
and the mixed doubles pair of Sharath Kamal and Petrissa blanked Sathiyan and
Sathiyan-Szocs respectively.
Sathiyan was expected to help Delhi bounce back
but Apolonia made it a one-sided contest, winning the match 11-6, 11-7, 11-9. In
the mixed doubles match too, Sathiyan did not look in his element and failed to
help the battling Szocs. On the other hand, Sharath and Petrissa were off to a
strong start, winning the first game 11-7. Errors committed by Delhi and some
smart play from Chennai meant that the former had no chance to bounce back.
Sharath and Petrissa won the final set 11-3 to finish the tie.
