Chennai Lions thrashes Puneri to enter UTT final

PUNE: Defending champion Chennai Lions continued its dominant show as it stormed into the final of the Ultimate Table Tennis Season 4 after crushing Puneri Paltan Table Tennis 8-3 in the second semi-final at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex on Saturday.

The Chennai franchise will take on Goa Challengers in the final on a Super Sunday and will look to defend its title.

Star Indian paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal faced Manush Shah in the fourth match of the tie and won the necessary eighth point required for victory. The youngster produced startling shots early on to take the first game 11-5 before Sharath Kamal made a fine comeback and clinched the second game 11-5 as Chennai Lions reached back-to-back finals in the league.

Earlier, Benedikt Duda won the first match of the tie against 2018 ITTF African-Cup champion Omar Assar 3-0 to give Chennai a perfect start.

The World No. 32 played aggressively from the get-go and used his perfect forehands to good effect to take the opening game 11-5 before pocketing the second by 11-7. Duda looked in complete control of his shots in the third game as well as he clinched it by 11-6 to register a comprehensive victory.

Yangzi Liu defeated Hana Matelova 2-1 to continue her undefeated streak in Season 4 and further extended the lead of the defending champion in the tie.

In the third match, Sharath Kamal and Yangzi beat Manush Shah and Hana 2-1 and took Chennai Lions’ lead to 7-2 in the tie. Sharath and Yangzi began the match with positive intent. They showcased immaculate control on both flanks to win the first game 11-4 before Manush and Hana took the second by 11-9. The decider of the match went in favour of the Chennai Lions’ pair by 11-6.