UTT 4 | U Mumba TT, Puneri Paltan TT clash in do-or-die tie
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 Season 4 at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Mahalunge-Balewadi in Pune.
Puneri Paltan Table Tennis and U Mumba TT are sitting in 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 is really competitive in this league and our focus is to win the next tie."