UTT 2024: Ahmedabad Pipers thrash Jaipur Patriots 12-3, storms into semis

World No.13 Bernadette Szocs and Manush Shah led the charge as Ahmedabad Pipers waltzed into the semi-finals in style with a 12-3 thrashing of Jaipur Patriots in a rather one-sided last league tie of UTT 2024 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai on Wednesday.

Ahmedabad Pipers have thus finished the league stage at the second spot with 42 points.

They also broke the hearts of the local fans by knocking out home favorites Chennai Lions out of the competition.

Chennai Lions were placed fourth before the start of Wednesday’s tie and were hoping that the Jaipur Patriots would help them go through to the next stage.

But Jaipur Patriots ended their debut UTT campaign at the last position in the eight-team league with 28 points.

Coming to Wednesday’s tie, both teams needed to win big to enter the Last-4 stage and it was Ahmedabad Pipers who dominated the contest by winning all the matches against a somewhat listless Jaipur Patriots.

Ahmedabad Pipers were off to a good start as Lilian Bardet defeated Cho Seungmin 2-1 (11-9, 11-10, 10-11) in the first men’s singles although the South Korean did take a valuable point to keep Jaipur Patriots in contention for the knockouts.

However, the Jaipur-based franchise needed to win every game from thereon to qualify for the semi-finals, and their hopes came crashing down during the first women’s singles when Bernadette drubbed Suthasini Sawettabut 3-0 (11-10, 11-3, 11-6) as Ahmedabad SG Pipers ran away to a healthy 5-1 lead.

Bernadette gave the Ahmedabad SG Pipers fans more reasons to smile when she teamed up with Manush to beat the Jaipur Patriots pair of Nithyashree Mani and Cho 2-1 (11-9, 11-5, 8-11) in the mixed doubles match.

That win saw Bernadette and Manush maintain their all-win record this season and ensured that the Ahmedabad-based franchise will go through to the knockout stage.

Manush continued the domination for Ahmedabad SG Pipers, outclassing Snehit SFR 2-1 (11-,11-6, 8-11) in the second men’s singles.

Reeth Rishya rounded off a successful evening for Ahmedabad by outclassing Moumita Dutta 3-0 (11-10, 11-9, 11-10) in the second women’s singles.

Detailed Scores:

Ahmedabad SG Pipers bt Jaipur Patriots 12-3

Lilian Bardet bt Cho Seungmin 2-1 (11-9, 11-10, 10-11)

Bernadette Szocs bt Suthasini Sawettabut 3-0 (11-10, 11-3, 11-6)

Bernadette Szocs/Manush Shah bt Nithyashree Mani/ Cho Seungmin 2-1 (11-9, 11-5, 8-11)

Manush Shah bt Snehit SFR 2-1 (11-6, 11-6, 8-11)

Reeth Rishya bt Moumita Dutta 3-0 (11-10, 11-9, 11-10)

Semi-final line-up

September 5: Bengaluru Smashers vs Goa Challengers, at 7:30 PM IST

September 6: Ahmedabad Pipers vs Dabang Delhi, at 7:30 PM IST