UTT: Szocs proves her class as Goa Challengers win three on the bounce

Bernadette Szocs showed why she is such a revered and feared player. The Romanian dished out a superb game against Zeng Jian to win 2-1 under immense pressure in the fifth and deciding singles match and seal the tie in Dempo Goa Challengers’ favour against HVR Kolkata ThunderBlades in the Ultimate Table Tennis Season-7 at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium here on Monday.

The 8-7 verdict also meant Goa completed its third straight win. With the match tied 6-6, Szocs, the highest-ranked player in the competition (World No. 24), displayed immense courage in the decider.

Standing at 6’ 2’’, Goa’s Alvaro Robles moves with fluidity, and the ease with which he deals with short, low balls and lightning-fast exchanges close and behind the table is quite a marvel for a player of his height.

His backhand stands out for its variety in attack and the amount of spin he generates. All those qualities were on display in his 2-1 victory over Eduard Ionescu in the opening match.

After her famous victory over Ahmedabad’s Manika Batra the other day, expectations were understandably high on Goa’s 16-year-old Syndrela Das against Ayhika Mukherjee in the second match.

Finding Ayhika’s anti-spin rubber difficult to negotiate, the teenager fought hard but lost 1-2.

Goa suffered another setback in the mixed doubles as the pairing of Robles and Syndrela went down to Ankur Bhattacharjee and Ayhika. Kolkata edged the contest to take a slender 5-4 lead.

The reverse men’s singles encounter between Abhinandh and Ankur was touted to be the Gen-Z battle and it lived up to billing. Abhinandh won an intense match 2-1 thereby levelling the tie before Szocs showed her class.

The result: Dempo Goa Challengers bt HVR Kolkata ThunderBlades 8-7 (Alvaro Robles bt Eduard Ionescu 11-8, 9-11, 11-0; Syndrela Das lost to Ayhika Mukherjee 9-11, 7-11, 11-4; Robles & Syndrela lost to Ankur Bhattacherjee & Ayhika 9-11, 11-7, 7-11; Abhinandh bt Ankur 11-8, 11-8, 6-11; Bernadette Szocs bt Zeng Jian 5-11, 11-8, 11-7).