Manika, Sathiyan help Smashers win UTT title

Kolkata: India’s golden girl Manika Batra and country’s highest-ranked men’s player G Sathiyan stamped their class on the Ultimate Table Tennis championship, annexing the title for Dabang Smashers here at the Netaji Indoor Stadium on Sunday.

Manika and Sathiyan’s power-packed performance helped the Smashers topple defending champions Falcons TTC 11-7 and also pocket a whopping Rs 1 crore in front of a delirious full house.

Riding on a brilliant start that saw the Smashers jump to a solid 7-2 lead after just three matches, captain Sathiyan recorded a thumping 2-1 victory over Alvaro Robles to bring the contest to a premature end.

Sathiyan won the first set and led 5-0 in the second. But Spain’s Robles pulled back to draw level and make it 1-1. World No 44 Sathiyan, however, had the last laugh.