Table Tennis
UTT 2025: Sreeja Akula, Kanak Jha lead Jaipur Patriots to win over Chennai Lions
Jaipur Patriots raced to a match winning 8-0 lead in just three matches.
Sreeja Akula in action for Jaipur Patriots at the 2025 UTT (Photo credits: UTT)
Clean sweeps by Kanak Jha and Sreeja Akula set Jaipur Patriots up for a 9-6 win in the 2025 Ultimate Table Tennis on Tuesday, despite a late, spirited fightback from Chennai Lions.
USA’s top-ranked male paddler, Jha became the first player in league history to win a match with three Golden Points in his 3-0 triumph over Kirill Gerassimenko.
Subsequently, India’s top-ranked female paddler, Sreeja, followed with a clinical 3-0 win over Poymantee Baisya as Jaipur raced to a 6-0 lead.
Having won their opening battles, Jha and Sreeja then paired up to stretch Jaipur’s winning start to eight games, sealing their first tie win of the campaign with a commanding 2-1 win in mixed doubles over Payas Jain and Fan Siqi.
But Chennai showed late resolve. Payas responded with a 3-0 win over Yashansh Malik in a clash of Delhi talents, while Fan, the league’s highest-valued player, added two more games in her 2-1 win against Britt Eerland.
Though the result was sealed, the Lions clawed back six valuable games, potentially crucial when table standings tighten at the business end of the league.
Sreeja took home the dual honours of the Indian Player and Shot of the Tie for her displays, while Jha picked up the Foreign Player of the Tie award.
