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) here 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), the opening match of the tie.
However, Chinese world No. 13, Wu Yang, brushed aside Pooja Sahasrabudhe Koparkar (DHFL 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) DHFL 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 put it past China-born Austrian world No. 22 Liu Jia (DHFL Maharashtra United) 3-0 in the women’s singles (Foreign player category) to take Falcons TTC a step closer to victory, at 10 -5.
The winning selfie! Job well done, @falconsttc