Pune, July 21 Defending champions Chennai Lions will look to get back to winning ways as they face a strong challenge against table toppers Goa Challengers in the Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) Season 4 at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex here on Saturday.
Chennai Lions suffered a defeat in their last tie against Bengaluru Smashers, who registered their first win in Season 4, in the franchise-based league, promoted by Niraj Bajaj and Vita Dani under the auspices of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI).
All eyes will be on veteran Achanta Sharath Kamal, World No. 33 Benedikt Duda and Yangzi Liu as Chennai Lions will aim for a better performance in the upcoming tie against the Goa franchise.
"The last tie was a close one and we will give our best in the upcoming tie against Goa Challengers. 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, Goa Challengers are high on confidence at the moment as they are on top of the table with two wins in three ties. India's top-ranked male paddler Harmeet Desai has been in fine form at the moment, while Alvaro Robles and T. Reeth Rishya have also contributed to the franchise's victory.
"We have beaten strong sides like Dabang Delhi TTC and U Mumba TT in the Season 4 which certainly gives us a lot of confidence that we can beat any franchise in the league. All of the players are confident ahead of our upcoming tie against Chennai Lions," Reeth said.
Squads:
Chennai Lions: Achanta Sharath Kamal, Yangzi Liu, Benedikt Duda, Sutirtha Mukherjee, Payas Jain and Prapti Sen.
Coaches: Somnath Ghosh, Jorg Bitzigeio
Goa Challengers: Suthasini Sawettabut, Harmeet Desai, Alvaro Robles, T Reeth Rishya, Krittwika Sinha Roy and Anthony Amalraj.
Coaches: Elena Timina, Parag Agrawal.
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