Harmeet Desai and Yangzi Liu led from the front as Goa Challengers scripted history by becoming the first team to successfully defend their title with an 8-2 thrashing of 2018 champions Dabang Delhi TTC in a pulsating final of the IndianOil Ultimate Table Tennis 2024 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium on Saturday.
It was the culmination of a dramatic season for Goa Challengers.
The defending champions had made it to the semi-final line-up by the skin of their teeth as they had to battle hard before somehow finishing the league stage at the fourth spot.
However, they came out firing on all cylinders right from the start of Saturday’s title clash, piling the pressure on Dabang Delhi. Harmeet handed the early advantage to Goa Challengers with a 2-1 (6-11, 11-9, 11-6) win over Sathiyan Gnanasekaran in the first men’s singles.
Harmeet was adjudged the Indian Player of the Tie while Yangzi was chosen as the Foreign Player of the Tie. Yangzi, who went undefeated throughout the season, also took home the title of Most Valuable Player (MVP) female player of the league.
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran was adjudged the MVP among the men. Alvaro Robles of PBG Bengaluru Smashers claimed the title of IndianOil Super Server Of The League.
Achanta Sharath Kamal received the DafaNews Shot of the League award, while Lily Zhang and Yashini Sivashankar received the ACT Fibernet Fastest Rally Of The League award.
Detailed Scores
Goa Challengers bt Dabang Delhi TTC 8-2
Harmeet Desai bt Sathiyan Gnanasekaran 2-1 (6-11, 11-9, 11-6)
Yangzi Liu bt Orawan Paranang 3-0 (11-2, 11-10, 11-9)
Harmeet Desai/Yangzi Liu vs Sathiyan Gnanasekaran/Orawan Paranang 2-1 (9-11, 11-8, 11-9)
Mihai Bobocica vs Andreas Levenko 1-0 (11-7)