TPL 2021: Hyderabad Strikers to meet Mumbai Leon Army in TPL final- Hyderabad Strikers and Mumbai Leon Army entered the final of the Tennis Premier league, scoring narrow, identical 42-38 victories over Chennai Stallions and defending champions Pune Jaguars, respectively, in the semi-finals on Saturday.
Interestingly, both the matches were tied 30-30 after three rubbers and it was the men’s doubles that decided both outcomes.
Karman Kaur gave the Strikers a positive start, edging past Samantha Sharan 11-9.
With a final berth at stake, both players made shaky starts to the game, but it was Karman’s bigger serve that held her in good stead. The lead changed hands a couple of times before Karman took control and closed out the match.
TPL 2021: Hyderabad Strikers to meet Mumbai Leon Army in TPL final
TPL 2021: Siddharth, unbeaten in the tournament, looked on course to give the Stallions the advantage when he raced to a 8-4 lead against Arjun Kadhe.
However, a couple of loose shots from Rawat gave Kadhe a chance to narrow the lead and he then came up with some sharp net play when trailing 8-10 to level the scores at 10-10.
Purav Raja and Samantha once again showed their doubles prowess when they beat Vishnu Vardhan and Karman 11-9 to level the match at 30-30 after three rubbers.
But the final men’s doubles was a bit of a letdown for the Stallions as the stronger pairing of Vardhan and Kadhe ran away with the game.
Opening up 7-1 lead, they were never threatened and once they reached 11, the match was settled. The Strikers finally won the doubles 12-8 and the match 42-38.
Meanwhile, after Rutuja Bhosle and Sowjanya Bavisetti played a 10-10 tie in the opening women’s singles of the second semis, Ramkumar raced to a 8-2 lead against Saketh raising hopes of a big lead for Mumbai.
But Saketh dug deep, making his big serves count. He also attacked Ramkumar’s serve and won 7 points on the trot to lead 9-8.
However, Ramkumar responded with an ace and a wide serve to wrest back the lead at 10-9, before Myneni served an ace of his own to tie 10-10.
TPL 2021: Hyderabad Strikers to meet Mumbai Leon Army in TPL final
After the mixed doubles also ended 10-10, it was Poonacha and Ramkumar proved the stronger pair in the men’s doubles, winning 12-8 to seal the tie.
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