Lilian Bardet edged G. Sathiyan to give U Mumba a crucial lead against Dabang Delhi.
| Photo Credit: ButterflyUTT
The odds were firmly stacked against Dabang Delhi’s Maria Xiao when she walked out to face U Mumba TT’s Anusha Kutumbale in the fifth and deciding match of the Ultimate Table Tennis Season 7 at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium on Wednesday.
Moments earlier, Mumba’s Lilian Bardet had edged past G. Sathiyan 2-1 in a fiercely contested singles match to hand the defending champion a 7-5 lead. With just one game needed from the final match to secure the tie, the advantage lay squarely on Anusha. Though Anusha lost the first two games, she came up with an excellent counter-attacking effort in the third to win the game that mattered to give U Mumba its first win of the season 8-7.
Mumba’s Manush Shah has not been at his best in this edition. If there has been one glaring weakness in his game, it has been a lack of consistency.
Against Youssef Abdelaziz in the opening match, Manush seldom displayed the patience or discipline needed to build points. Particularly in the opening game, he appeared eager to end rallies too quickly, going for ambitious winners before constructing the point.
The resulting unforced errors prevented him from finding any rhythm and he lost 1-2. Mumba’s Anna Hursey extended her unbeaten run in the singles, with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Sutirtha Mukherjee, to level the tie at 3-3.
It was a huge upset in the third match as Manush found his attacking touch and Anna kept within herself as the mixed doubles pair outwitted Sathiyan and Maria Xiao to swing the momentum in Mumba’s favour at 5-4.
The results: U Mumba TT bt Delhi Dabang 8-7 (Manush Shah lost to Youssef Abdelaziz 11-9, 11-4, 6-11; Anna Hursey bt Sutirtha Mukherjee 9-11, 11-7, 11-6; Manush & Anna bt Sathiyan & Maria Xiao 11-4, 8-11, 11-8; Lilian Bardet bt Sathiyan 11-10, 8-11, 11-8; Anusha Kutumbale lost to Maria Xiao 10-11, 9-11, 11-10).
Published – July 15, 2026 10:49 pm IST
