In the second semi-final of CEAT UTT, Shazé Challengers registered a comprehensive 14-9 win over Dabang Smashers to set up a title clash with Falcons TTC at the NSCI Stadium in Mumbai, on Sunday.

The Smashers started off in fine fashion, as Marcos Freitas beat Soumyajit Ghosh 2-1 in the first Match of the Tie. Freitas was in the mood to seek revenge against Ghosh, who defeated the Portuguese paddler in the previous battle between the two. Freitas was aggressive right from the first point, and won the first two Games easily 11-7 and 11-6. Ghosh fought back well in the final Game, never allowed Freitas to stay ahead and eventually won it 11-9, much to the delight of the crowd.

In the second Match of the Tie, Han Ying swept aside Madhurika Patkar of Dabang Smashers 3-0 to hand the Smashers a 4-2 lead. Patkar started off well but Ying won seven points on the trot and eventually bagged the opening Game 11-4. Ying’s defensive chops proved very strong for Madhurika and forced the Indian paddler to commit a lot of unforced errors. The German won the second Game 11-6 and in the next, Patkar changed her strategy and started to play defensively. The Game saw some long rallies but it never plagued Ying, as she won it 11-7.

Shazé Challengers’ pair of Soumyajit Ghosh and Petrissa Solja got the better off Anthony Amalraj and Tetyana Bilenko in the third Match of the Tie. The Smashers pair won the first Game but Ghosh and Solja rallied back brilliantly to win the next two to give Challengers a 6-3 lead in the Tie.

The in-form Kou Lei faced Andrej Gacina in the fourth Match of the Tie. The opening Game was evenly poised at 9-9, but Gacina hit two brutal forehand and backhand shots to win it 11-9.  Kou Lei won the next Game at 11-6 to draw level in the Match. In the deciding Game, Gacina was all over Lei and the Ukrainian had no answers to Gacina’s thunderous forehands. The Challengers skipper won it 11-7 to hand his team a healthy lead of 8-4 in the Tie.

The fifth Match of the Tie between Han Ying and Kim Song I turned out to be an enticing contest. Despite Kim posing all sorts of problems, the German paddler held her nerve and won it 6-11, 11-9 and 11-10. Kim Song started off well by winning the first Game, before Ying pulled one back to take the Match into the deciding Game. The North Korean struck some stunning forehand smashes throughout the Match and was on the verge of handing Ying her first defeat in the competition when she was leading 9-6 in the third Game. But she couldn’t sustain the momentum, as Ying came back and won the Game in the decisive moments to hand Challengers a 10-5 lead.

The in-form Sathiyan Gnanasekaran defeated Li Ping 2-1 in the sixth Match of the Tie. Ping had no answers to Sathiyan’s powerful counter-attacks, as the Chennai paddler won the tight opening Game 11-9. Ping came back hard and strong in the second to bag it 11-5, but he couldn’t replicate his performance in the decisive Game. Sathiyan was remarkable in the third Game, as he came up with some unreal third ball attack to win the Game 11-4.

Kim Song I came back and defeated Mouma Das 2-1 in the seventh Match of the Tie. Kim won the first two Games with ease, 11-4 and 11-4, however, Das rallied back brilliantly in the final Game and was leading 7-3. Kim staged a comeback of her own to make it 9-9, but the Indian paddler struck astonishing forehand and backhand winners respectively to seal the tense Game in her favour.

Eventually, Li Ping sealed the Tie 14-9 in favour of the Challengers by pulling off a surprise 2-0 victory over Smashers captain Marcos Freitas.

Shazé Challengers will face Falcons TTC in Sunday’s final at the NSCI Stadium in Mumbai at 7.30 PM IST.