Chennai: Sanil Shetty recorded two wins to lead Falcons TTC’s 22-5 rout of Oilmax Stag Yoddhas in a third round tie on day 7 of the inaugural CEAT Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) at the Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai on Wednesday, a result that gives a shot in the arm for the team’s chances of qualifying to the knock-outs.

In-form Shetty put his team ahead with a dramatic 3-0 (11-6, 11-10, 11-9) victory over Nigerian world No 29 Aruna Quadri in the men’s singles (Foreign v Indian category), the day’s opening match.

Shetty, ranked 201 in the world, took a 5-4 lead in opening game before wrapping it convincingly. The Mumbai lad fought hard to quell the Nigerian’s challenge in the next two games with some stunning counter attacks to hand his team full three points.

Chinese world No 13 Wu Yang made it 6-0 lead for Falcons TTC with a commanding 3-0 (11-5, 11-10, 11-8) victory over Manika Batra in the women’s singles (Foreign v Indian category).

Manika made a huge impression in the second game when she rallied back strongly to go up 10-8 before the experienced Yang beat back the Indian’s challenge to take the game on golden point.

Shetty recorded his second win of the day as he and Hong Kong’s Lee Ho Ching extended Falcons TTC’s lead to 9-0 with a thumping 3-0 (11-5, 11-7, 11-8) win over Abhishek Yadav / Doo Hoi Kem (HK) in the mixed doubles (Foreign/Indian pair) match.

Swedish world No 41 Par Gerell made it 11-1 for Falcons TTC with a 2-1 (9-11, 11-5, 11-9) come-from-behind win over Croatia’s Tomislav Pucar in the men’s singles (Foreign player category).

Hong Kong world No 36 Lee Ho Ching won her second outing of the day with a 3-0 (11-3, 11-6, 11-4) win over Russian world No 64 Polina Mikhailova in the women’s singles (Foreign player category) to extend Falcons TTC lead to 14-1
Gerell also recorded his second win of the day with a 3-0 (11-6, 11-6, 11-7) win over Abhishek Yadav in the men’s singles (Foreign v Indian category) to put Falcons TTC on top 17-1.

Polina Mikhailova provided a rare win this evening for Oilmax Stag Yoddhas, with a 3-0 (11-10, 11-9, 11-7) win over lower-ranked Sutirtha Mukherjee in the women’s singles (Foreign v Indian).

With two matches remaining, Falcons TTC led 17-4 as Briton world No. 59 Liam Pitchford scored a 2-1 (11-9, 7-11, 11-9) victory over higher-ranked Aruna Quadri in the men’s singles. Falcons TTC moved to a 19-5 lead which became 22-5 after Wu Yang thumped Doo Hoi Kem 3-0 (11-8, 11-4, 11-2) in women’s singles (Foreign player category). Falcons TTC now have 50 points after three rounds.

Oilmax Stag Yoddhas 5-22 Falcons TTC

MS – Aruna Quadri vs Sanil Shetty 0-3 (6-11, 10-11, 9-11)

WS – Manika Batra vs Wu Yang 0-3 (5-11, 10-11, 8-11)

MD – Abhishek Yadav/ Doo Hoi Kem vs Sanil Shetty/ Lee Ho Ching 0-3 (5-11, 7-11, 8-11)

MS – Tomislov Pucar vs Par Gerell 1-2 (11-9, 5-11, 9-11)

WS – Polina Mikhailova vs Lee Ho Ching 0-3 (3-11, 6-11, 4-11)

MS – Abhishek Yadav vs Par Gerell 0-3 (6-11, 6-11, 7-11)

WS – Polina Mikhailova vs Sutirtha Mukherjee 3-0 (11-10, 11-9, 11-7)

MS – Aruna Quadri vs Liam Pitchford 1-2 (9-11, 11-7, 9-11)

WS – Doo Hoi Kem vs Wu Yang 0-3 (8-11, 4-11, 2-11)