Shetty steers Falcons to big win
Sanil Shetty scored a scintillating win over world no. 22 Aruna Quadri to inspire Falcons TTC to a big 15- 6 victory against Warriors TTC in their Ultimate Table Tennis tie at Thyagaraj Stadium here on Friday.
Sanil then paired up with Bernadette Szocs to engineer another crucial 11- 4, 11- 7, 11- 9 result over the formidable duo of Achanta Sharath Kamal and Sofia Polcanova. The double wins helped Falcons jump into a comfortable 8- 1 lead after the first three matches.
Captain Liam Pitchford too played a part, winning both his singles matches. Matilda Ekholm and Soczs also won to extend their domination over Warriors. In the last match, Hana Matelova won 10- 11, 11- 3, 11- 9 against Sutirtha Mukherjee for Warriors’ only success in the tie.
The 23- year- old Shetty, ranked 88 places below Quadri, staged a superb fightback in the third game to seal the win.
With the clash tied 1- 1 after the first two games and down 7- 10, he attacked fearlessly to take three straight points and the golden point, using his powerful forehand smash to good effect for the victory. Shetty began on a bright note by pocketing the first game 11- 6 only for Nigeria’s Quadri to level scores at 1- 1.
Quadri appeared to have put the game beyond the Indian’s reach by taking a decisive lead but Shetty never gave up.
Earlier, Matilda provided a smooth start to the defending champions with a fluent 11- 4, 113, 11- 5 win over Pooja Sahasrabuddhe.
Pitchford and Soczs then powered Falcons’ march. World no. 49 Pitchford downed the 15th ranked Chih Yuan Chuang 10- 11, 11- 5, 11- 7, while Soczs conquered Sofia Polcanova 10- 11, 11- 10, 11- 10 in a tight contest where all three games being decided on the golden point. Pitchford also won the battle of the captains, defeating world no. 47 Achanta Sharath Kamal 11- 9, 11- 4, 10- 11.
After Friday’s win, Falcons are third with 30 points. Dabang Smashers are on top with 39 points, followed by RP- SG Mavericks on 37 points.