A contentious umpiring decision towards the closing stages of the final league tie of Ultimate Table Tennis Season 7 between Dabang Delhi TTC and PBG Pune Jaguars triggered a prolonged confrontation between Delhi captain G. Sathiyan and the match officials at the Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium on Thursday.

Although the disputed call had no bearing on the semifinal qualification scenario by then, the incident brought the final rubber between Sutirtha Mukherjee and Diya Chitale to a halt for nearly 10 minutes.

The controversy unfolded at 10-10 in the second game between India’s two top women’s paddlers. As Chitale, with the Jaguars playing only for pride, tossed the ball up to serve, Mukherjee was heard calling “TTR” aloud in an attempt to seek a Table Tennis Review. Chitale immediately appealed for obstruction of play, claiming she heard the call after the ball had entered play. Since players are not permitted to speak once the point has begun, umpire Vinay Baiswade, after consulting assistant umpire D.V.S.Y. Sharma, upheld the appeal and awarded the point — a golden point — and, consequently, the game to Chitale.

The decision sparked furious protests from the Delhi bench.

Sathiyan initially stepped onto the court before retreating to the sidelines, where he continued arguing that, given the uncertainty over whether Mukherjee’s appeal came before or after the ball was tossed, the fairest outcome would have been to replay the point. Chief referee K.R. Manjunath joined the discussion, as did Pune coach Julien Girard. After a lengthy deliberation, however, Baiswade’s decision stood, much to the frustration of the Delhi camp.

“Never have I seen a point being awarded for alleged obstruction of
play at such a crucial juncture, that too when it was clearly
unintentional,” Sathiyan told The Hindu.

“With so much doubt over whether the ball was tossed first or the appeal came before the toss, it would have been better had the point been replayed.” Ultimate Table Tennis Competition Director Jigar Rambhia, however, maintained that the officials had applied the rules correctly. “Diya was just about to serve and even before the ball left her palm, Sutirtha called for a Table Tennis Review (TTR),” Rambhia explained.

“Before that, if the opponent speaks, it is deemed obstruction of play. As per the rules, if there is an obstruction, the point goes to the other player. That’s what happened in this case. There’s nothing more to it.” It is understood that slow-motion replays suggested Mukherjee’s call came when the ball was already in the air. Had that interpretation been accepted, Delhi believed the TTR request itself should have been entertained.

Sathiyan felt the episode exposed the need for greater clarity around the league’s newly introduced review system. “With TTR newly introduced now, the rules need to be clear about whether calling for a TTR a split second early can be described as a distraction,” he said. “Sometimes they tell you to call immediately after the serve and sometimes they say you were late. Either they should have checked the TTR or replayed the point.”

Rambhia clarified that the review mechanism was never applicable because the point had already been awarded for obstruction. “TTR didn’t come into the picture because the point was already awarded for obstruction,” he said. He added that the league remained open to expanding the scope of the review system in future editions. “We are trying to add more and more instances where we can use TTR. We will work towards it. This was the first season, so we wanted to be sure of what we could deliver. So far we have delivered well and we’ll probably add more situations in which players can call for a TTR.”

Pune coach Julien Girard, meanwhile, played down the controversy, pointing out that the result of the tie — and the qualification picture — had effectively been settled by then.

“Diya was ready to serve. Sutirtha knows sometimes she can hide the ball, so she said, ‘TTR, TTR.’ Perhaps she said something too early, so the umpires gave Diya the point,” Girard said.

“At that point of the tie they were leading 10-4. We cannot fight over one point like this. Anyway, they were through to the semifinals and our campaign was already over.”

Published - July 24, 2026 04:26 am IST