Jaipur Patriots clinched their inaugural Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) semi-final with a 9-6 triumph over PBG Pune Jaguars in the second-to-last league stage match of Season 6 on Wednesday, thanks to the unbeaten Sreeja Akula.

Jaipur Patriots moved up to second place in the standings with 41 points, three behind Dempo Goa Challengers, following their victory. With just one spot left before tomorrow's league stage game between U Mumba TT and Dabang Delhi TTC, the PBG Pune Jaguars, on the other hand, were eliminated from playoff contention.

Jeet Chandra gave the Jaipur Patriots a thrilling start by defeating Anirban Ghosh 2-1 while shutting out his counter-punching approach. In a similar vein, Dutchwoman Britt Eerland won the first two games before Pune's Reeth Rishya grabbed the third on Golden Point.

These close victories provided Jaipur with a crucial cushion going into the mixed doubles, where Jeet and Eerland overcame an early disadvantage and a 0-1 deficit to win games two and three 11-6 and 11-7. Jaipur's berth in the semi-finals was mathematically guaranteed by their victory, marking the team's first-ever entry into the IndianOil UTT's final four.

In the second men's singles match, PBG Pune Jaguars' Alvaro Robles responded with a calm 2-1 victory over Yashansh Malik, accelerating their quest for the playoffs. Nevertheless, Sreeja ended the tie in spectacular fashion, putting an end to Pune's aspirations of making it to the semifinals by defeating South Korea's Zion Lee 2-1 in their match, which gave Jaipur a 9-6 victory and maintained her undefeated record throughout all five league stage games.

Jeet was awarded the Indian Player of the Tie and Eerland the Foreign Player of the Tie for their leading performances in Jaipur's triumph. Zion was awarded the Shot of the Tie for her round-the-net shot against Sreeja in the singles rubber.

Final Scores

Jaipur Patriots 9-6 PBG Pune Jaguars

Jeet Chandra bt. Anirban Ghosh 2-1 (11-8, 11-9, 10-11)

Britt Eerland bt. Reeth Rishya 2-1 (11-9, 11-6, 10-11)

Jeet Chandra/Britt Eerland bt. Alvaro Robles/Reeth Rishya 2-1 (9-11, 11-6, 11-7)

Yashansh Malik lost to Alvaro Robles 1-2 (4-11, 11-6, 3-11)

Sreeja Akula bt. Zion Lee 2-1 (11-5, 6-11, 11-8)

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