Chennai, Aug 30 (IANS): Manav Thakkar pulled off a nail-biting victory against the experienced Achanta Sharath Kamal as U Mumba TT defeated Chennai Lions 8-7 in an exciting clash in the Ultimate Table Tennis 2024 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium here on Friday. U Mumba TT thus jumped to the second spot on the league table with 29 points while Chennai Lions have 19 points.

In a clash between youth and experience, the talented Thakkar staged a superb comeback after suffering an early reversal to carve out a 6-11, 11-8, 11-9 victory. Thakkar, who thus maintained his all-win record this season, anchored the victory for U Mumba. Thakkar had teamed up with Spanish star Maria Xiao earlier in the evening to outclass the Chennai Lions pair of Sharath and Sakura Mori 11-7, 11-10, 11-4 in the mixed doubles match.

U Mumba TT, who were enjoying the lead at that point, seemed to be cruising to a comfortable win but super mom Mouma Das had other plans. The experienced Team India star almost took Chennai Lions past the line in the last match of the tie – the women’s singles – before Maria Xiao saved the day for U Mumba off the last shot of the tie.

Earlier, Nigeria star Aruna Quadri gave U Mumba the early lead with a hard-earned 10-11, 11-9, 11-7 victory against Jules Rolland. Both players were evenly matched in the early stages with points being traded back and forth.

However, Mori defeated Sutirtha Mukherjee in the women’s singles to help U Mumba TT draw level and set up the tie for an exciting finish.

UTT 2024, the franchise-based league promoted by Niraj Bajaj and Vita Dani under the auspices of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI), is being broadcast live on Sports18 Khel and streamed online on JioCinema (India) and Facebook Live (Outside India).