Chennai Lions eyeing second UTT title, to face Goa Challengers in final

Pune, Jul 30 (PTI) Defending champions Chennai Lions will look to create history on Sunday when they take on a formidable Goa Challengers in the final of the Ultimate Table Tennis season 4 here.

Chennai Lions were unstoppable as they thwarted the challenge from Puneri Paltan on Saturday night, overcoming a strong crowd support at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex.

Chennai Lions were clinical in getting to the eight required points by winning as many games, as the contest ended in the fourth match of the tie when Achanta Sharath Kamal got the better of his young opponent Manush Shah.

On the other hand, Goa Challengers were made to work hard by last edition’s finalist Dabang Delhi TTC in the first semifinal, a tie which they won by a narrow 8-7 margin on last Friday.

For the first-time finalists Goa Challengers, who boasts of Thailand’s Suthasini Sawettabut and Spain’s Alvaro Robles, ranked 47 in the world, it will be a tough challenge against the Chennai Lions who have not been in rich form but had also beaten them 11-4 earlier in the tournament.

In the semifinals and final of the UTT season four, a team which earns eight points first is declared winner and there was no doubt that Chennai were the superior side in the semifinal stage as they eased past their opponent 8-3, requiring only 11 games to be played.

However, Sharath Kamal, the star Indian paddler who played the decisive role in the semifinal here on Saturday, said even though they had beaten Goa Challengers earlier in the season, the summit clash will pit both the teams equally and hoped that his side will come out winners.

“When we were playing Dabang in the playoffs we wanted to finish first so that we get that one alternate day break. But once we knew that was not happening, we made sure we were prepared this way,” said Sharath on Saturday after Chennai Lions qualified for the final.

“We have to get ourselves recovered tonight, it will be tough to get sleep, still there is a lot of adrenaline that is pumped in but we will try and recover fast.

“We will analyse how we played against them in the group stage and prepare for the match as it is going to be the final. We beat them in the playoffs but that does not mean we start with any handicap, the match will begin at 0-0, so we need to beat them from an equal start.

“It is going to be very important how our form is going to be, how our shape is going to be and how the team is going to stick through the situations, said Sharath, adding that he hopes Chennai Lions are the first team in the competition’s history to win a second consecutive title.

Goa Challengers were the fourth team on the points table with least number of games won — 36 — during the group stage while Chennai Lions had 41 points in their kitty.

T Reeth Rishya was the star for Goa Challengers in the semifinal when she got them over the line and carried them into the final, beating reigning national champion and Commonwealth Games medallist Sreeja Akula.

For Chennai Lions, Australia’s world No. 32 Yangzi Liu has been a force in their ranks but the participation of Indian player Sutirtha Mukherjee looks in doubt as she is said to be unwell.