UTT Season 4: Dabang Delhi, Goa Challengers face off in first semifinal

Pune, July 28 (IANS) Dabang Delhi TTC will take on Goa Challengers in the first semifinals as the Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) Season 4 reached the knockout stage at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex here.

Dabang Delhi T.T.C had reached the final of Season 3 and will look to repeat their remarkable performance in the ongoing Season 4 as well in the franchise-based league promoted by Niraj Bajaj and Vita Dani under the auspices of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI). 

The Delhi franchise defeated defending champions Chennai Lions in their last tie on Thursday to top the table with 42 points and enter the last four of the league. Sathiyan Gnanasekaran defeated Indian great Achanta Sharath Kamal in the previous tie and will look to repeat his performance in the upcoming semifinal 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 final."

Sreeja Akula, Ayhika Mukherjee, Barbora Balazova and Jon Persson will also be eager to continue their fine form for Goa Challengers. 

On the other hand, Goa Challengers will look to bounce back with some sublime performances after facing a defeat in their last tie against Bengaluru Smashers. They qualified for the semis despite the loss due to their better performances at the start of Season 4.

They will bank on India's highest-ranked men's singles paddler Harmeet Desai, who has been in fine form in the league. T Reeth Rishya and Alvaro Robles will also look to make an impact in the last four. 

Reeth said, "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."

Squads:

Dabang Delhi TTC: Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Sreeja Akula, Barbora Balazova, Ayhika Mukherjee, Anirban Ghosh and Jon Persson

Coaches: Slobodan Grujic, A. Muralidhara Rao

Goa Challengers: Suthasini Sawettabut, Harmeet Desai, Alvaro Robles, T Reeth Rishya, Krittwika Sinha Roy and Anthony Amalraj

Coaches: Elena Timina, Parag Agrawal