Ultimate Table Tennis 2017: Wu Yang, Liam Pitchford help Falcons TTC beat Maharashtra United and reach final

Mumbai: Wu Yang and Liam Pitchford won both their matches to help Falcons TTC beat DHFL Maharashtra United 14-5 in the first semifinal of the inaugural CEAT Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) in Mumbai on Friday.

The team which secures 14 points first is declared winner in the knockouts.

Hong Kong World No 8 Wong Chun Ting put DHFL Maharashtra United ahead with a 2-1 win over southpaw Sanil Shetty, ranked 201 in the world, in the men’s singles (Foreign v Indian), in the opening match of the tie.

However, Chinese World No 13, Wu Yang, brushed aside Pooja Sahasrabuddhe Koparkar (Maharashtra United) 3-0 in the women’s singles (Foreign v Indian) for Falcons TTC to move 4-2 ahead on points.

In the mixed doubles (Foreign/Indian pair) Maharashtra United’s pair of Harmeet Desai and the experienced Fu Yu edged out Sanil Shetty and his partner Lee Ho Ching 2-1 to reduce their margin of deficit to 4-5.

Briton Liam Pitchford pulled off an upset win over Wong Chun Ting 2-1 in the men’s singles (Foreign player category) to extend Falcons TTC’s lead to 7-5.

Chinese ace Wu Yang won her second outing of the day as she went past China-born Austrian World No 22 Liu Jia (Maharashtra United) 3-0 in the women’s singles (Foreign player category) to take Falcons TTC a step closer to victory, at 10 -5.

Liam Pitchford then won his second match of the day, beating Harmeet Desai 3-0 in the men’s singles (Foreign v Indian) to move Falcons TTC to 13-5, with just a point away from moving into the final.

Sutirtha Mukherjee won the opening game against Liu Jia in the women’s singles (Foreign v Indian) 11-10 to seal the tie for Falcons TTC.

Falcons TTC will meet the winner of the second semi-final, to be played between Shaze Challengers and Dabang Smashers, in the summit clash on Sunday.