The Goa Challengers, who have won the Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) tournament twice before, achieved their first victory of the year 2025 by a resolute team effort. The highlight of this victory was Harmeet Desai's 2-1 victory over Ricardo Walther, who is ranked 34th in the world, in the men's singles competition. In the second game of Match 4, Harmeet prevailed against a nervous opponent by a score of 11-10, despite having a poor start.
After that, he dominated the championship match by a score of 11-3, which sent the reigning champions on their path to a triumph on the first day of competition. Prior to that, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Diya Chitale were the driving forces behind Dabang Delhi TTC's resounding victory over Jaipur Patriots, which they achieved by a score of 11-4. Tiago Apolonia, the oldest player in the league, set the tone for Dempo Goa Challengers with back-to-back 11-6 victories against Snehit Suravajjula. These victories broke a 5-5 stalemate in both games, allowing Dempo Goa Challengers to break the tie.
The home team was able to get one back thanks to Snehit's victory in the third quarter, which was a Golden Point. Afterwards, Krittwika Sinha Roy added another 2-1 victory for the defending champions, rebounding back from a first-game defeat against Ayhika Mukherjee with impressive 11-8 and 11-9 finishes. Krittwika Sinha Roy led the team to victory.
With a 2-1 victory over Harmeet and Zeng Jian in the mixed doubles match, Ahmedabad SG Pipers were able to re-enter the competition thanks to the combination of Ayhika, who was a scratch player, and Ricardo Walther, who was making his debut. With a remarkable victory against Walther, however, the defending champions were able to ensure that they would enter the final match with their noses in front of them.
After defeating Giorgia Piccolin of Italy by a score of 11-7, 11-7, 11-5, Zeng of Singapore guaranteed a victory for Dempo Goa Challengers on the first day of competition. Zeng's victory meant that Dempo Goa Challengers would have a successful opening day.
Dabang Delhi, the Patriots of Jaipur, are modest.
A convincing 11-4 victory over Jaipur Patriots was the opening match of the day for Dabang Delhi TTC, which allowed them to get their record off to a strong start. Sathiyan, who is returning to Delhi for the sixth consecutive season, defeated Jeet Chandra by a score of 3-0 to secure the tie early on. Meanwhile, Diya Chitale took a decisive 2-1 victory over Britt Eerland, who is ranked 43rd in the world.
Earlier in the match, Izaac Quek, who is only 19 years old, gave Dabang Delhi an early lift by defeating Kanak Jha, who has competed in three Olympics, by a score of 2-1. In a close match, Sreeja Akula of the Jaipur Patriots managed to edge past Maria Xiao, so securing a 2-1 victory for her team. She did this by scoring the first Golden Point of the season.
On the other hand, Sathiyan and Maria of Delhi were able to establish an instant connection in the mixed doubles match, which allowed them to dominate the set and set the stage for a clean finish as Delhi won both of the final two sets. As a result of their individual matches, Sathiyan and Harmeet were recognized as the Indian Player of the Tie, while Maria Xiao and Zeng Jian were recognized as the Foreign Player of the Tie. The Shot of the Tie gongs were awarded to Maria and Ayhika Mukherjee in recognition of their combined efforts.
