Falcons TTC booked their place in the final of CEAT UTT with a thumping 14-5 win over DHFL Maharashtra United at the NSCI Stadium in Mumbai on Friday.

Wong Chun Ting gave Maharashtra United a good start by defeating Sanil Shetty of Falcons TTC 2-1 in the first Match of the Tie. Shetty started off well, leading 6-3 in the opening Game, but made errors at crucial junctures, as Ting came back and bagged the first Game 11-8. With some terrific forehand shots and winners, Shetty bounced back and won the next Game at 11-5, before Ting showed his class in the decisive Game to seal it easily at 11-3.

In the second Match of the Tie, Wu Yang thumped Pooja Sahasrabudhe 3-0 to give Falcons a 4-2 lead. The inexperienced Pooja struggled to control her returns and never troubled Yang in any of the Games, as the Chinese paddler won it 11-2, 11-4, and 11-2.

Harmeet Desai and Fu Yu got the better of Sanil Shetty and Lee Ho Ching 2-1 in the third Match of the Tie. Yu partnered with Desai for the first time in the competition and took the first Game, before the Falcons pair bagged the second to draw level in the Match. In the decisive Game, the United duo came back hard and strong to seal it 11-5 to close the deficit to just one point.

In the fourth Match of the Tie, Wong Chun Ting came back and faced Liam Pitchford. Ting had a great start, but suddenly Pitchford’s backhand started to fire, and eventually the Englishman clinched the Game 11-8, before Ting rallied back and won the next to draw level in the Tie. The third Game was a one-way tussle, as the in-form Pitchford routed Ting 11-4 to give Falcons a steady lead of 7-5 in the Tie.

The fifth Match of the Tie saw the much-anticipated battle between Wu Yang and Liu Jia. The Austrian paddler defeated Yang in the previous Tie, and was leading 5-3 in the opening Game of the Match. But Yang won eight points on the trot to bag the Game 11-5. The second and third Game saw some long rallies, but Jia’s defensive chops never plagued Yang. The Chinese paddler was in fine form throughout the Match and eventually won 11-5, 11-5 and 11-6 to give Falcons a lead of 10-5.

Liam Pitchford came back and put a stand out performance to clean sweep Harmeet Desai in the sixth Match of the Tie. After Pitchford took the first Game easily 11-5, Desai fought bravely to make things interesting but couldn’t win the Game. Pitchford came up with a booming cross-court backhand to win the second Game with a Golden point, before taking a next 11-7 to put Falcons on the verge of a final berth.

Eventually, Sutirtha Mukherjee sealed the Tie 14-5 for Falcons by winning the opening Game of seventh Match.

In the second semi-final of CEAT UTT Shazé Challengers take on the Dabang Smashers at the NSCI Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.