Puneri Paltan Table Tennis: Ayhika Mukherjee maintained her giant-killing ways in her first match of the season, beating World No. 13 and three-time Olympian, Bernadette Szocs, 3-0. Ayhika’s win set up a triumph for Puneri Paltan Table Tennis in their opening tie of Ultimate Table Tennis 2024 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium here on Friday.
All eyes were on Ayhika following her sensational win over World No. 1 Sun Yingsha earlier in the year. On the opposite end was UTT 2024’s highest-ranked player, male or female, Szocs, who found it difficult to read Ayhika’s uncommon technique throughout. Ayhika ran away with the three games 11-7, 11-5, 11-6, adding Szocs to her list of scalps in 2024.
The tie began with captains Joao Monteiro and Manush Shah taking on each other in the first men’s singles match. Seventeen years Manush’s senior, Monteiro - ranked 92 - showed his considerable experience by blocking the youngster’s aggressive hits and finding the spaces he left behind, and took the first game 11-5. Manush - ranked 111 by comparison - hit back in game 2, adding precision to his power, and levelled the match 1-1.
