Goa, July 9: Two-time champions Dempo Goa Challengers made a commanding start to Butterfly Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) Season 7 with a convincing 10-5 victory over defending champions U Mumba TT at the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium on Thursday.
Teenage sensation Abhinandh PB and reigning UTT MVP Bernadette Szocs starred for the hosts, winning their respective singles matches in straight games before combining to clinch the mixed doubles and seal the tie with two matches to spare.
Abhinandh produced a dominant performance against France’s Lilian Bardet, winning 11-6, 11-2, 11-3. Szocs followed with a clinical 3-0 win over Nithyashree Mani before the duo defeated Manush Shah and Anna Hursey 2-1 in the mixed doubles.
U Mumba fought back late through captain Manush Shah, who edged Alvaro Robles 2-1 in the second men’s singles, while Wales’ Anna Hursey overcame Goa youngster Syndrela Das 2-1 in the final match.
For his outstanding performances, Abhinandh swept the ChatGPT Match IQ Player of the Tie, Indian Player of the Tie and Bisleri Shot of the Tie awards, while Szocs was named the Foreign Player of the Tie.
Earlier, Goa Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant officially inaugurated the season in the presence of International Table Tennis Federation President Petra Sörling and Butterfly UTT co-promoters Vita Dani and Niraj Bajaj.
Butterfly UTT Season 7 continues on Friday with Dabang Delhi TTC taking on UP Prometheans, while HVR Kolkata ThunderBlades face PBG Pune Jaguars in the season’s first double-header.
