Captain Manush Shah and Anna Hursey powered defending champions U Mumba TT into the Butterfly Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) Season 7 final with an 8-3 win over HVR Kolkata ThunderBlades in the second semifinal in Goa on Saturday.
The victory sets up a title clash against unbeaten league leaders Dempo Goa Challengers on Sunday, in a repeat of the tournament’s opening fixture.
Manush remained unbeaten across his two matches, winning all five games he played, while Hursey claimed five of the six games she contested in the Women’s Singles and Mixed Doubles.
HVR Kolkata ThunderBlades made the stronger start through Romanian paddler Eduard Ionescu, who defeated Lilian Bardet 2-1 after edging two closely fought opening games 11-9 and 11-10 before Bardet claimed the third game. The result handed Kolkata an early 2-1 lead.
Hursey restored parity for U Mumba with a 2-1 victory over Ayhika Mukherjee. The Welsh international won the opening two games before Ayhika took the third, leaving the tie level at 3-3 heading into the Mixed Doubles.
The turning point came in the Mixed Doubles, where Manush and Hursey defeated Ankur Bhattacharjee and Ayhika Mukherjee in straight games. The U Mumba pair conceded just 14 points across the final two games to give their side a decisive 6-3 advantage.
Needing only two more games to secure a place in the final, Manush completed the job with a straight-games victory over Ankur Bhattacharjee, winning 11-7 and 11-5 to seal the semifinal 8-3 and send the defending champions into a second successive UTT final.
Manush was named the Indian Player of the Tie, while Hursey received both the ChatGPT Match IQ Player and Foreign Player of the Tie awards. Bardet collected the Bisleri Shot of the Tie honour.
The Butterfly UTT Season 7 final between U Mumba TT and Dempo Goa Challengers will be played on Sunday.
Final Score
U Mumba TT 8-3 HVR Kolkata ThunderBlades
- Eduard Ionescu bt. Lilian Bardet 2-1 (11-9, 11-10, 8-11)
- Anna Hursey bt. Ayhika Mukherjee 2-1 (11-8, 11-5, 8-11)
- Manush Shah/Anna Hursey bt. Ankur Bhattacharjee/Ayhika Mukherjee 3-0 (11-7, 11-5, 11-2)
- Manush Shah bt. Ankur Bhattacharjee 2-0 (11-7, 11-5)
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