20-year-old Indian paddler Yashaswini Ghorpade sparked one of the big upsets of Ultimate Table Tennis season 6, beating former world number 11 Fan Siqi to help U Mumba TT seal a victory over Stanley’s Chennai Lions this weekend. Ghorpade upset the Chinese player, ranked nearly 40 points ahead of her in the world rankings, winning the first game with ease 11-5, before coming back to seal the second 11-10.
It was a show both of great promise and commendable resilience, as Ghorpade came back from 2-7 and 8-10 down in the second game, saving game point and then winning the match with a conversion on Golden Point. The Indian rising star became the first player to beat Fan Siqi in this year’s edition of the UTT, and her victory helped U Mumba seal the victory over Chennai 9-6 in the tie.
Jaipur Patriots also win on Saturday
Yashaswini has already tasted victory in the UTT, having won season five while representing Goa Challengers as a teenager. Currently ranked 81 in the world, she is looking to continue a strong rise up the world rankings, which currently have five women from India ranked in the top 100.
U Mumba rose to second in the table thanks to the win, with rising star Yashaswini supported by Lilian Bardet sealing the men’s singles tie, before a mixed doubles win sealed the tie. World number 12 Bernadette Szocs put an exclamation mark on proceedings with a 3-0 victory in the second women’s singles match of the tie.
{{/usCountry}}U Mumba rose to second in the table thanks to the win, with rising star Yashaswini supported by Lilian Bardet sealing the men’s singles tie, before a mixed doubles win sealed the tie. World number 12 Bernadette Szocs put an exclamation mark on proceedings with a 3-0 victory in the second women’s singles match of the tie.
{{/usCountry}}However, a commanding 11-4 win for Jaipur Patriots over Ahmedabad SG Pipers means the Rajasthan team remain at the top of the table. Yashaswini’s win wasn’t the only Indian upset on the day, as Jeet Chandra registered a win in the men’s singles for the Patriots, beating world number 34 of Germany, Ricardo Walther.