Puneri Paltan Table Tennis once again put themselves in contention for a place in the knockout stages with a 9-6 win over debutants Jaipur Patriots in a thrilling UTT 2024 tie at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium.

Chennai: The Puneri Paltan table tennis team once again battled for a place in the knockout stages with a 9-6 win over debutants Jaipur Patriots in a thrilling UTT 2024 tie at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium on Sunday.

Puneri Paltan were at the bottom of the eight-team points table going into Sunday's match and a win over the Jaipur-based franchise lifted them to the fourth position with 28 points. The top four teams at the end of the league stage will qualify for the playoffs.

Jaipur Patriots jumped to the fifth position with 25 points.

The two teams were almost tied till the end and the large crowd in the arena was kept on tenterhooks as the lead changed after almost every game.

Ankur Bhattacharjee, who was later adjudged the Indian player of the tie, got off to a winning start by defeating Puneri Paltan's Ronit Bhanja 2-1 (10-11, 11-10, 11-8) in the first men's singles. The Bengal player, who is yet to taste defeat this season, staged a brilliant comeback from an early defeat to score two gold points in a row.

Suthasini Sawettabut led Jaipur Patriots to a 2-1 (8-11, 11-10, 11-7) win over highly rated Ahika Mukherjee.

In the mixed doubles match, Puneri Paltan took an immediate lead after Natalia Bajor and Anirban Ghosh defeated Nityashree Mani and Cho Seungmin 2-1 (11-10, 7-11, 11-9).

The Puneri platoon finally got some daylight between themselves and the Jaipur Patriots when Joao Montero defeated the dangerous Cho Seungmin 2-1 (8-11, 11-10, 11-7) to record the first win for the Pune-based franchise.

This gave Puneri Paltan a 7-5 lead going into the final match of the evening – the second women's singles.

Natalia Bajor, who was later adjudged Foreign Player of the Tie, won the second match for Puneri Paltan table tennis with a 2-1 (11-8, 7-11, 11-6) win over Nityashree Mani. Women's singles.

Detailed scores

Puneri Paltan Table Tennis bt Jaipur Patriots 9-6:

Ankur Bhattacharjee bt Ronit Bhanja 2-1 (10-11, 11-10, 11-8)

Ahika Mukherjee lost to Suthasini Savetabut 1-2 (11-8, 10-11, 7-11).

Natalia Bajor/Anirban Ghosh bt Nityashree Mani/Cho Seungmin 2-1 (11-10, 7-11, 11-9)

Joao Monteiro bt Cho Seungmin 2-1 (8-11, 11-10, 11-7)

Natalia Bajor bt Nityashree Mani 2-1 (11-8, 7-11, 11-6)