World No. 13 table tennis players Bernadette Szocs and Manush Shah guided Ahmedabad SG Pipers to the semi-finals of the Ultimate Table Tennis with a commanding 12-3 victory over Jaipur Patriots in the final league match in Chennai on Wednesday.
The win secured Ahmedabad SG Pipers a second-place finish in the league stage with 42 points, while also eliminating Chennai Lions from the competition.
Jaipur Patriots ended their debut UTT season at the bottom of the eight-team league with 28 points.
In the first semi-final on Thursday, PBG Bengaluru Smashers, who topped the table with 48 points, will face defending champions Athlead Goa Challengers, who finished fourth with 37 points.
Ahmedabad SG Pipers will take on third-placed Dabang Delhi TTC (41 points) in the second semi-final on Friday.
In Wednesday's tie at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, Ahmedabad SG Pipers dominated the contest, winning all matches.
Lilian Bardet kicked off with a 2-1 victory over Cho Seungmin 2-1 (11-9, 11-10, 10-11) in the first men's singles. Bernadette Szocs then secured a 3-0 (11-10, 11-3, 11-6) win over Suthasini Sawettabut in the women’s singles.
Szocs then teamed up with Manush Shah to beat Nithyashree Mani and Cho 2-1 (11-9, 11-5, 8-11) in the mixed doubles match.
Manush continued the momentum with a 2-1 (11-,11-6, 8-11) victory over Snehit SFR in the second men’s singles, while Reeth Rishya rounded off a successful evening for Ahmedabad SG Pipers by defeating Moumita Dutta 3-0 (11-10, 11-9, 11-10) in the second women’s singles.
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