UTT Season 4: Chennai Lions, Dabang Delhi look to qualify for semifinals

Pune, July 25 (IANS) Defending champions Chennai Lions and Dabang Delhi T.T.C. will be keen to extend their winning run to qualify for the semifinals of the ongoing Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) Season 4 when they meet on Wednesday at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex here.

Chennai Lions are currently leading 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 semifinals, while a loss will also keep them in contention depending on the results of the remaining ties.

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," Duda was quoted as saying in a release on Tuesday.

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.

"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," Sathiyan said.

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