Pune (Maharashtra) [India], July 25 : Defending champions Chennai Lions and Dabang Delhi T.T.C. will be keen to extend their winning run to qualify for the semi-finals of the ongoing Ultimate Table Tennis Season 4 when they meet on Wednesday at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Mahalunge-Balewadi in Pune.
Chennai Lions are placed on top of the table with 35 points whereas Season 3 finalist Dabang Delhi T.T.C. are lying in second place with 33 points. A win will guarantee them a spot in the semi-finals, while a loss will also keep them in contention depending on the results of the remaining ties.
The franchise-based league is promoted by Niraj Bajaj and Vita Dani under the auspices of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI).
Achanta Sharath Kamal is in red-hot form and Chennai Lions will be hoping for a good show again from the Indian veteran. Sharath Kamal dominated Harmeet Desai of Goa Challengers in the last tie. World No. 33 Benedikt Duda and Yangzi Liu will also look to continue their winning performance in their last league-stage tie.
"The last tie was a good one as we won it by a big margin. We will give our best in the upcoming tie against Dabang Delhi T.T.C. Our squad has a lot of quality. We are the defending champions and it gives us a lot of confidence when we play against any opponent in Season 4," commented Duda ahead of the next tie.
On the other hand, Dabang Delhi T.T.C. defeated U Mumba TT in their last tie and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Sreeja Akula and Ayhika Mukherjee will be eager to continue their fine form against Chennai Lions. International stars Barbora Balazova, three-time European championships medallist, and Jon Persson have been in terrific form as well.
Sathiyan stated, "We won the last tie, which was really crucial and it showed everyone our quality. We will now look to play well in the next tie and hopefully register another win to qualify for the semi-finals of Season 4."
Squads:
Chennai Lions
Coaches: Somnath Ghosh, Jorg Bitzigeio
Players: Achanta Sharath Kamal, Yangzi Liu, Benedikt Duda, Sutirtha Mukherjee, Payas Jain and Prapti Sen
Dabang Delhi TTC
Coaches: Slobodan Grujic, A. Muralidhara Rao
Players: Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Sreeja Akula, Barbora Balazova, Ayhika Mukherjee, Anirban Ghosh and Jon Persson.
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