FREMONT AT SAN FRANCISCO-SUNDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2006
By Spencer Chase
The Fremont Flash are still looking for their first win and things did not look promising when their highest-rated player, Shashin Shodhan, was unable to attend this match for coaching reasons. Manjunath Siddappa, who was once his state's junior champion in India, was working in the area and came to know about table-tennis here and this league through a coworker. San Francisco has one win which was over Fremont and hope to win the season series from Fremont with another win today.
Ankur Patel
In the first game, Ankur Patel missed many backhand shots due to the spin variation of Spencer Chase's pips-out blocking and punching. During the second game, Patel makes several good services tying the game up to 9-9. However, Chase uses more variation in service and wins the next two points making it 2-0 for him. The last game was one sided with Spencer hitting backhands and following up with strong forehand topspins. San Francisco is now up 1-0.
Nash Darukhanawalla
(Fremont)
This was the closest match of the tie. Darukhanawalla starts out playing consistently and wins the first game. Then Spencer Chase tells Tam to start lopping more rather than pushing and playing passively. Terry Tam has better service returns and forehand attacks during the second game to be at 1-1. The third game was "all Terry" with him looping and playing more aggressive. He wins this game 11-1. Now it is 2-1 Tam. In the fourth game, Darukhanawalla was able to get more forehands in and Tam also missed several of his services. This resulted in Darukhanawalla winning 11-5. The fifth game was the most exciting. Both players were playing better and the scores are tied at 9-9. Then Tam serves a fast serve and Darukhanawalla catches the speed and hits a forehand loop winner. Ankur Patel says that Terry Tam's hands are shaking at this point. Terry Tam then serves a short underspin and executes a winning loop himself. This makes it deuce. Darukhanawalla serves and Tam gives him a heavy chop, which he misses. Then Tam serves another underspin and hits a winner. This makes it 3-2 Tam. Darukhanawalla has been working on his blocking and other aspects of his game and he nearly got the best win of his career. Now, San Francisco is up 2-0.
Manjunath Siddappa (Fremont) vs Sally Su (San Francisco)
This was a one sided match. Sally Su played very well, looping backhand and forehand shots and overwhelming Siddappa with her quick offense. This was a case in which there was an evident gap in skill levels. Sally won 3-0.
Ankur Patel/Nash Darukhanawalla (Fremont) vs Spencer Chase/Vincent Tai (San Francisco)
Spencer Chase and Vincent Tai have been playing doubles for several months and have developed a consistent game. Ankur Patel and Nash Darukhanwalla put up a good fight but could not find openings to attack. They were also overwhelmed by Chase and Tai's steady forehand kills. Chase and Tai win 3-0. This is San Francisco's second win of the season in league play and second win over Fremont.