Hyderabad Strikers and Mumbai Leon Army rode on their men’s doubles teams to set up a title clash in the Tennis Premier League at the Celebration Club on Saturday.
Karman Kaur and Arjun Kadhe laid the foundation for Hyderabad’s win against Chennai Stallions in the semifinal. Karman beat Samantha Sharan and Arjun tied with Sidharth Rawat.
Purav Raja and Samantha brought Chennai back by winning the mixed doubles before Vishnu and Arjun sealed it by beating Purav and Sidharth 12-8 in the last doubles.
The other semifinal witnessed a fascinating contest as the first three matches were tied 10-10. Eventually, Mumbai dethroned Pune as Ramkumar Ramanathan and Niki Poonacha won the decisive doubles 12-8 against Divij Sharan and Vijay Sundar Prashanth.
The results:
Semifinals: Hyderabad Strikers bt Chennai Stallions 42-38 (Karman Kaur bt Samantha Sharan 11-9; Arjun Kadhe tied with Sidharth Rawat 10-10; Vishnu Vardhan & Karman lost to Purav Raja & Samantha 9-11; Vishnu & Arjun bt Purav & Sidharth 12-8).
Mumbai Leon Army bt Pune Jaguars 42-38 (Sowjanya Bavisetti tied with Rutuja 10-10; Ramkumar Ramanathan tied with Saketh Myneni 10-10; Sowjanya & Niki Poonacha tied with Ishaque Eqbal & Rutuja 10-10; Ramkumar & Poonacha bt Saketh & Ishaque 12-8).
League: Rajasthan Tigers bt Gujarat Panthers 41-39; Bengaluru Spartans tied with Delhi Binny’s Brigade 40-40.
