Like fine wine, G. Sathiyan’s partnership with Dabang Delhi has matured and grown richer over the years.

The only player to represent the franchise in all seven editions of Ultimate Table Tennis, the 33-year-old again proved his worth at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium on Friday.

He won both his matches — first in the mixed doubles alongside Spain’s Maria Xiao and later against Germany’s Ricardo Walther in the fourth singles — as the former champion opened its campaign with a 9-6 victory over debutant UP Prometheans.

In the day’s other keenly fought tie, Kolkata ThunderBlades edged out PBG Pune Jaguars 8-7.

As expected, India’s top-ranked paddler Manav Thakkar gave UP the early advantage with a 2-1 win over Youssef Abdelaziz in the opening men’s singles. Maria restored parity for Delhi by beating Yangzi Liu 2-1 in the women’s singles.

With the scores locked at 3-3 (in points) after the opening two matches, the pivotal mixed doubles assumed added significance.

Delhi seized the initiative as Sathiyan and doubles specialist Maria combined brilliantly to register a commanding 3-0 victory over the Manav-Yangzi pairing.

Maria, a five-time WTT mixed doubles champion with Alvaro Robles, was the perfect foil for Sathiyan as the duo dominated from start to finish.

Returning for the fourth singles, Sathiyan was at his best. Mixing sharp attacking play with his trademark consistency, he defeated Walther 2-1 to all but seal the contest for Delhi.

In the second women’s singles, UP’s Sayali Wani fought off a spirited challenge from 15-year-old Divyanshi Bhowmick to win 2-1 and reduce the final margin to 9-6.

While on Thursday, Table Tennis Review (TTR) wasn’t employed, it was put to use on Friday three times in the UP-Delhi tie.

The results: Dabang Delhi bt UP Prometheans 9-6 (Youssef Abdelaziz lost to Manav Thakkar 11-8, 11-5, 10-11; Maria Xiao bt Yangzi Liu 11-6, 11-7, 4-11; Sathiyan & Maria bt Manav & Yangzi 11-9, 11-7, 11-5; Sathiyan bt Ricardo Walther 11-8, 11-6, 6-11; Divyanshi Bhowmick lost to Sayali Wani 11-9, 5-11, 10-11).

PVR Kolkata Thunder Blades bt PBG Pune Jaguars 8-7 (Ankur Bhattacharjee lost to SFR Snehit 9-11, 4-11, 11-5; Zeng Jian bt Prithika Pavade 11-6, 11-7, 8-11; Eduard Ionescu & Ayhika Mukherjee bt Snehit & Prithika 7-11, 11-10, 11-6; Ionescu lost to Omar Assar 11-5, 6-11, 4-11; Taneesha Kotecha bt Diya Chitale 11-7, 11-2, 9-11).