India's Sanil Shetty scored a scintillating victory over World No. 22 Aruna Quadri in the CEAT Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) here tonight.
Sanil then paired up with Bernadette Szocs to engineer another crucial victory 3-0 (11-4, 11-7, 11-9) over the formidable duo of A Sharath Kamal and Sofia Polcanova. His double wins helped Falcons TTC jump into a comfortable 8-1 lead against Warriors TTC after the first three matches.
The 23-year-old Shetty, ranked 88 places below Aruna Quadri, staged a brilliant fightback in the third game to seal a well-deserved win, his best in his career. With the the clash tied 1-1 after the first two games and down 7-10, he attacked fearlessly to take three straight points.
He won the golden point too, using his powerful forehand smash to good effect for a 2-1 win. Sanil began on a bright note by pocketing the first game 11-6 only to find the 2018 Commonwealth Games double silver medallist levelling the scores 1-1.
Quadri of Nigeria appeared to have put the game beyond the Indian's reach by taking a decisive lead but Shetty pulled off a coup with his wristy flicks and returns.
Earlier, Matilda Ekholm provided a fluent start to the defending champions with an easy 3-0 (11-4, 11-3, 11-5) win over Pooja Sahasrabuddhe. The World No. 35 Swede was too strong for the 26-year-old Indian.