Riding on an all-round show, A. Sharath Kamal’s Chennai Lions made short work of Puneri Paltan to win the semifinal 8-3 with four games remaining and set up an enticing final versus Goa Challengers.
The Pune outfit, having scraped through to the semifinals, enjoyed the home support. But Lions, the defending champion, gave the home team a lesson about peaking at the right time.
Benedikt Duda, the southpaw from Germany, gave the Lions an ideal start. Not only did the Olympic medallist maintain his unbeaten record in the tournament but he also clean-swept Omar Assar to give Chennai the early advantage.
