Syndrela held her nerve when it mattered most much to the delight of the home supporters.
| Photo Credit: BUTTERFLYUTT
Dempo Goa Challengers continued its dream run, edging past PBG Pune Jaguars on Sunday, to preserve its unbeaten record and become the first team to book a semifinal berth in Ultimate Table Tennis Season 7.
It was a collective effort, with captain Bernadette Szocs setting the tone by sweeping aside Prithika Pavade. Although the lanky left-handed Alvaro Robles lost an absorbing singles contest to S.F.R. Snehit, the home side found match-winners in P.B. Abhinandh and Syndrela Das, whose contributions proved decisive.
Abhinandh, one of the revelations of the season, continued his impressive run despite suffering his first defeat of the campaign.
The teenager stretched World No. 35 Omar Assar to the hilt and, though he lost the decider, his opening-game victory turned out to be vital in the 8-7 win.
With the tie locked at 6-6 heading into the final rubber, the onus fell on another teenager, Syndrela, against senior Diya Chitale.
It was a daunting assignment, but Syndrela rose to the occasion with remarkable composure. Her crisp backhand winners repeatedly came to her rescue in the crucial moments as she overcame Diya. She added another National champion to her growing list of scalps after defeating Manika Batra earlier this season.
Diya’s all-round game kept the vociferous weekend crowd at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium engrossed, but Syndrela held her nerve when it mattered most to spark celebrations among the home supporters.
It was Goa’s fifth successive win — the longest winning streak in UTT history.
Later in the evening, HVR Kolkata Thunder Blades also secured a semifinal berth with a commanding 10-5 victory over the bottom-placed UP Prometheans.
The results: Dempo Goa Challengers bt PBG Pune Jaguars 8-7 (P.B. Abhinandh lost to Omar Assar 11-10, 5-11, 8-11; Bernadette Szocs bt Prithika Pavade 11-6, 11-9, 11-5; Alvaro Robles & Syndrela Das lost to Anirban Ghosh & Diya Chitale 10-11, 11-4, 6-11; Robles lost to S.F.R. Snehit 11-2, 8-11, 10-11; Syndrela bt Diya 11-7, 7-11, 11-8).
HVR Kolkata Thunder Blades bt UP Prometheans 10-5 (Ankur Bhattacharjee bt Manav Thakkar 11-10, 11-10, 11-3; Zeng Jian bt Swastika Ghosh 11-7, 8-11, 11-8; Ankur & Ayhika Mukherjee bt Ricardo Walther & Swastika 11-3, 8-11, 11-8; Eduard Ionescu lost to Walther 9-11, 8-11, 8-11; Ayhika Mukherjee bt Sayali Wani 11-8, 11-10, 11-7).
Published – July 19, 2026 10:34 pm IST
