Ayhika turns the tables on Zhang
The first game saw a nail-biting battle as Lily and Ayhika showcased immaculate backhands to win points.
Representative Image
PUNE: World No. 135 India’s Ayhika Mukherjee gave her all to upset World No. 26 Lily Zhang 2-1 in the ongoing Ultimate Table Tennis Season 4 at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Mahalunge-Balewadi in Pune on Monday. The first game saw a nail-biting battle as Lily and Ayhika showcased immaculate backhands to win points.
In the end, it was the American paddler who pocketed the game through a golden point. Both players continued their fighting spirit in the second game as well which went in the favour of Ayhika through a golden point.
The West Bengal-born paddler showed tremendous mental fortitude as she won the decider through a golden point to clinch the match. Earlier, U Mumba TT’s Manav Thakkar went down fighting 0-3 against Jon Persson of Dabang Delhi TTC.
Manav looked out of touch early on as Persson quickly reached 10-2 in the opening game before Manav earned six back-to-back points to enthral the audience. However, the Swedish paddler held his nerve to win the first game 11-8 with an accurate forehand.