Ultimate Table Tennis: Puneri opens campaign with win, Ayhika beats Bernadette

CHENNAI: Ayhika Mukherjee pulled off the biggest upset so far in the ongoing season of Ultimate Table Tennis taking down top-seed Bernadette Szocs of Romania 11-7, 11-5, 11-6 as Puneri Paltan opened its campaign with a victory here on Friday.

Ayhika has been on a roll this year, she took down world number 1 Sun Yingsha in the World Table Tennis Championship in February, which was the latter’s first loss ever at the team event of the World Championships.

“I really love playing with top-seeds, I’ve been used to playing senior players from my childhood and now when I play top-seeds from around the world, I try to do my best to bag points for the team,” Ayhika told the media after the match.

Bernadette got the better of Ayhika soon after in the mixed doubles when she combined with the youngest Indian to make it to top 100 Manush Shah to beat Ayhika and Portuguese Joao Monteiro 2-1.

Earlier in the contest, Manush had got the better of the experienced Joao after losing the first game 11-5. But the setbacks didn’t deter Paltan’s chances as fellow Bengali in the team Ankur made sure to seal the contest for Ayhika’s team, bagging a clean-sweep over Lilian Bardet 3-0 as Natalia Bajor closed the contest for Paltans with a 10-5 overall score.

Brief Scores:

Puneri Paltan bt Ahmedabad SG Pipers 10-5: Joao Monteiro lost to Manush Shah 1-2 (11-5, 7-11, 6-11); Ayhika Mukherjee bt Bernadette Szocs 3-0 (11-7, 11-5, 11-6); Monteiro/Ayhika lost to Manush/Szocs 1-2 (11-7, 3-11, 7-11); Ankur Bhattacharjee bt Lilian Bardet 3-0 (11-8, 11-5, 11-8); Natalia Bajor bt Reeth Rishya (7-11, 11-8, 11-5)

I didn't play this year, but I will at LA 2028: Ayhika

Archana Kamath, who recently quit the sport to pursue higher education, was chosen ahead of Ayhika as the third main team player to represent India at the Paris Olympics. Ayhika, however, travelled with the contingent to Paris as a reserve player. The Kolkata paddler referenced a phrase commonly used during Durga Puja in Kolkata, stating that after the festivities end, they will return next year. When asked about not being able to play at the Paris Games, Ayhika quoted the same: “Asche Bochor Abar Hobe (It’ll happen in the coming years). It’s okay that I wasn’t able to play this time, but it will happen at the next Olympics.”

Ayhika had a front-row seat when India defeated Romania 3-2 in the team event, helping the Indian women’s team qualify for the quarter-finals for the first time. The Romanian squad included Bernadette, and when asked if watching her up close helped her pull off the upset on Friday, Ayhika said, “Bernadette’s an amazing player. I’ve been watching her play since I was on the junior circuit. Recently, I saw her at the Olympics, I’ve been reading her game, and that helped me today (Friday).”