Ultimate Table Tennis 2023: Table toppers Goa Challengers to take on Chennai Lions

Defending champions will be heading into this tie after two straight losses

Defending champions Chennai Lions will look to get back to winning ways as they face a strong challenge against table toppers Goa Challengers on Saturday in IndianOil Ultimate Table Tennis Season 4 at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Mahalunge-Balewadi in Pune.

The franchise-based league, promoted by Niraj Bajaj and Vita Dani under the auspices of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI).

Chennai Lions suffered a defeat in their last tie against Bengaluru Smashers, who registered their first win in Ultimate Table Tennis 2023 Season 4, powered by DafaNews, and will aim for a better performance in the upcoming tie against the Goa franchise. Once again, all eyes will be on veteran Achanta Sharath Kamal, while World No. 33 Benedikt Duda and Yangzi Liu will look to continue their winning performance against Goa Challengers.

"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.

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 against Chennai Lions."

All the Ultimate Table Tennis 2023 ties start at 7.30 PM with broadcast on Sports 18 and streamed on JioCinema. The tickets are available on BookMyShow.

Squads:

Chennai LionsCoaches: Somnath Ghosh, Jorg BitzigeioPlayers: Achanta Sharath Kamal, Yangzi Liu, Benedikt Duda, Sutirtha Mukherjee, Payas Jain and Prapti Sen

Goa ChallengersCoaches: Elena Timina, Parag AgrawalPlayers: Suthasini Sawettabut, Harmeet Desai, Alvaro Robles, T Reeth Rishya, Krittwika Sinha Roy and Anthony Amalraj