Puneri Paltan Table Tennis team kick off their first UTT season with a win

It was a positive start to their first-ever Ultimate Table Tennis season for the team in orange from Pune. In the first match of the third season, debutants Puneri Paltan Table Tennis team defeated defending champions Dabang Delhi.

With players like Harmeet Desai and Ayhika Mukherjee, who were coming into this match after winning gold medals in the Commonwealth Championship, Puneri Paltan were positive about their chances right from the start.

Paltan's UTT campaign started with a ruthless Ayhika Mukherjee having it easy over Krittwika Sinha Roy, winning all 3 games of the Women's singles encounter.

In the Men's singles game, Delhi's Sathiyan Gnanasekaran defeated Paltan skipper Harmeet Desai 2 games to 1.

Chuang and Ayhika in action during the mixed doubles match

The third game of the evening saw Delhi's Sathiyan and Bernadette Szocs locking horns Paltan's with Chuang Chih Yuan and Ayhika Mukherjee in mixed doubles. The Dabangs won the game 3-0.

In the second Men's singles game of the evening, Paltan's most experienced player, Chuang Chih Yuan defeated Jon Persson 2 games to 1. He justified his World Ranking of 28 and his experience, as he fought back after being one game down.

Going into the last match of the day, the scoreline was tied at 6 games each. However, Pune's Sabine Winter was at her best, as she overcame Romania's Bernadette Szocs 2-1 to turn the match in Paltan's favour.

With the final scoreline reading 8 games to 7, it was the perfect start that UTT needed. With every player, except for Harmeet, winning at one game, Paltan will be high on confidence, going into their next game.

Final Scores:

Women's Singles:

Krittwika Sinha Roy lost to Ayhika Mukherjee - 0-3 (10-11, 6-11, 10-11)

Men's Singles:

Sathiyan Gnanasekaran beat Harmeet Desai - 2-1 (11-3, 9-11, 11-9)

Mixed Doubles:

Sathiyan - Bernadette Szocs beat Chuang Chih Yuan - Ayhika Mukherjee - 3-0 (11-6, 11-7, 11-7)

Men's Singles:

Jon Persson lost to Chuang Chih Yuan - 1-2 (7-11, 8-11, 11-9)

Women's Singles:

Bernadette Szocs lost to Sabine Winter - 1-2 (5-11, 11-7, 9-11)