It was time for some paper to be scribbled on with permutations and combinations at the seventh edition of Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT). Three teams were in contention for the final semifinal spot on the last day of the league stage.
The match was between Dabang Delhi and Pune Jaguars, with Ahmedabad Pipers watching on. Pune needed a 12-3 win, Delhi needed at least nine games to its name, and Ahmedabad couldn’t afford Delhi reaching nine.
But in less than two hours at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium in Panjim, Goa, on Thursday, the G. Sathiyan-led Delhi sealed its seventh-straight semifinal berth with a 10-5 win. Sathiyan has been in the mix on all seven occasions.
But before the Indian could guide his team over the finish line, it was Pune which took an early lead. The first game had fellow Egyptians Omar Assar of Pune and Youssef Abdelaziz of Delhi facing off.
Assar showed his junior why he’s the top-ranked player in this edition by grabbing the first two games. He also showed resilience in the third game when he was 3-7 down. The 34-year-old brought it back to 8-8, powered by ‘Let’s go, Omar’ chants, but Abdelaziz made sure to avoid a whitewash. But to Pune’s misfortune, Assar’s two games were the only ones the team had on the board for what seemed like an eternity.
Maria Xiao brought Delhi back to level terms as she kept attacking Prithika Pavade’s forehand corner, which wasn’t doing any good to the Pondicherry-born French paddler. Shouts of ‘Let’s go Prithika’ also rang out as a few unforced errors from Xiao helped the Pune paddler to get to game point. But a Golden Point was forced by her Spanish opponent, which Xiao clinched.
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With Pune trailing 1-3, Pavade had to win the third game. But with some great backhand defence and a bit of help from the net, Xiao blanked Pavade and showed the Jaguars the door. Now, the Pune outfit had pride to play for, and also had the chance to deny Delhi passage to the last-four.
But Sathiyan and Xiao made sure the Pune chants were far and few in between as they too pulled off a 3-0 win in their mixed doubles match against Anirban Ghosh and Diya Chitale.
Delhi now needed just two games to extend its campaign, while the Ahmedabad players — perhaps sat in their hotel rooms — prayed for a miracle.
But that miracle increasingly seemed a distant dream. After clinching the first game against Snehit SFR, Sathiyan turned to his bench and roared in celebration. The second game threatened to delay the inevitable. Snehit was able to take it to a Golden Point, but Sathiyan prevailed to send the dugout into a frenzy.
The last women’s singles match was inconsequential on paper, but controversy struck in the second game. It seemed that Sutirtha Mukherjee had interrupted Diya while the latter was about to serve. Confusion ensued, and an incensed Sathiyan made his way to the umpire to protest. But ultimately, Diya was awarded the point.
The tension was crackling in the third game, and Diya played extremely well to end Pune’s campaign on a winning note. But come Friday, Dabang Delhi will play table-topper Goa Challengers in the first semifinal before U Mumba takes on Kolkata Thunder Blades on Saturday.
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Published on Jul 23, 2026