Ultimate Table Tennis 2023: U Mumba TT take on Puneri Paltan TT in do-or-die clash

Both teams are currently placed in the bottom two spots on the points table

U Mumba TT and Puneri Paltan Table Tennis will go up against each other in a do-or-die clash on Thursday to book their place in the semi-finals of the IndianOil Ultimate Table Tennis 2023 Season 4 at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Mahalunge-Balewadi in Pune.

Puneri Paltan Table Tennis and U Mumba TT are sitting on fifth and sixth place respectively with 28 points each. The winner will seal their spot in the semi-finals, while the losing side will crash out of the league. The franchise-based league is promoted by Niraj Bajaj and Vita Dani under the auspices of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI).

World No. 17 Quadri Aruna has been a go-to face for U Mumba TT and the franchise will hope for another top performance from the highest-ranked player in the tournament. World No. 28 Lily Zhang, Manav Thakkar and Diya Chitale will also hope for a strong performance in the upcoming tie.

"The upcoming tie is important to win to qualify for the semi-finals. We are always motivated to give our best in every tie and I hope to continue playing well in the forthcoming tie. Puneri Paltan Table Tennis is a really good franchise but we also have a great squad that makes us really confident going into the next tie," commented Chitale ahead of the tie.

On the other hand, Puneri Paltan Table Tennis will bank on their young paddlers Manush Shah and Archana Kamath apart from their international star World No. 21 Omar Assar who is also the former All-Africa Games champion.

Manush stated, "We have been in great form and performed well in the last tie as well which was a close one against Bengaluru Smashers. Omar has been in great form and gives us a solid start. U Mumba TT are really competitve in this league and our focus is to win the next tie."

All the Ultimate Table Tennis 2023 Season 4 ties start at 7.30 PM with broadcast on Sports 18 and streamed on JioCinema. The tickets are available on BookMyShow.

Squads:

U Mumba TTCoaches: Anshul Garg, Francisco SantosPlayers: Manav Thakkar, Lily Zhang, Aruna Quadri, Diya Chitale, Mouma Das and Sudhanshu Grover

Puneri Paltan Table TennisCoaches: N Ravichandran, Zoltan BatorfiPlayers: Omar Assar, Manush Shah, Archana Kamath, Snehit SFR, Anusha Kutumbale and Hana Matelova