Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) Season 4: All About the Player Draft and the League
The fourth season of the Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) league is all set to begin on July 13 at the Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune. But before that, the six franchisees will have to assemble their squads at the UTT Season 4 Player Draft, which will be held at the National Sports Club of India in Mumbai on Friday.
Retained players
Four of the six teams have already retained one player each from the previous season. The defending champions Chennai Lions have kept their faith in veteran Achanta Sharath Kamal, who is a ten-time national champion and an Olympian. The runners-up Dabang Delhi TTC have also retained their star player Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, who is currently ranked 38th in the world and has won several medals at the Commonwealth and Asian Games.
Bengaluru Smashers have secured the services of Manika Batra, India’s top female paddler and a Commonwealth Games gold medallist. U Mumba TT have opted to continue with Manav Thakkar, a young talent who won a bronze medal at the 2018 Asian Games in the mixed doubles event.
The other two teams, Goa Challengers and Puneri Paltan Table Tennis, have not retained any players and will have the first pick in the draft.
Draft pool
The draft pool consists of 40 players, of which 36 are available for selection after the retentions. Each team can draft two foreign players (one male and one female) and four Indian players (two male and two female) to complete their six-member squad.
The foreign players include some of the top names in the world of table tennis, such as Quadri Aruna (Nigeria), Lily Zhang (USA), Alvaro Robles (Spain), Suthasini Sawettabut (Thailand), Omar Assar (Egypt) and Hana Matelova (Czech Republic).
6️⃣ Teams. 3️⃣6️⃣ Players. It’s 𝐆𝐎 time 🔥🤩👏🏻🔝 #UltimateTableTennis #TheRallyContinues #TableTennis pic.twitter.com/RT9CEJcebc
— Ultimate Table Tennis (@UltTableTennis) June 1, 2023
The Indian players include some of the rising stars of the sport, such as Sreeja Akula, who has won back-to-back national titles, Harmeet Desai, who was part of the gold medal-winning team at the 2018 and 2022 Commonwealth Games, Payas Jain, who is the U-19 boys national champion, Diya Chitale, who is a multiple-time national champion in various age groups, S Fidel R Snehit, who is ranked among the top 10 juniors in Asia, and Ankur Bhattacharjee, who is a former national champion.
The draft will be attended by UTT co-promoter Vita Dani and Table Tennis Federation of India Secretary General Kamlesh Mehta, along with franchise owners and Indian table tennis players Sharath Kamal, Manika Batra, Manav Thakkar, and Diya Chitale.
Players list
Here is the complete list of players available for the draft:
| Foreign Players | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| Quadri Aruna (NGR) | Lily Zhang (USA) | |
| Kirill Gerassimenko (KAZ) | Suthasini Sawettabut (THA) | |
| Benedikt Duda (GER) | Natalia Bajor (POL) | |
| Jon Persson (SWE) | Barbora Balazova (SVK) | |
| Alvaro Robles (ESP) | Hana Matelova (CZE) | |
| Omar Assar (EGY) | Yangzi Liu (AUS) |
| Indian Players | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| Sathiyan Gnanasekaran | Sreeja Akula | |
| Manush Shah | Sutirtha Mukherjee | |
| Harmeet Desai | Diya Chitale | |
| Manav Thakkar | Reeth Rishya | |
| Achanta Sharath Kamal | Ayhika Mukherjee | |
| Sanil Shetty | Archana Kamath |
The franchise-based league is promoted by Niraj Bajaj and Vita Dani under the auspices of the Table Tennis Federation of India and will be broadcasted live on Sports 18 and streamed on Jio Cinema.
Expectations
The UTT Season 4 promises to be an exciting affair with some of the best paddlers from India and abroad competing for glory. The league will also provide a platform for young Indian players to showcase their skills and learn from their experienced counterparts.
The league will follow a round-robin format, where each team will play against every other team once. The top four teams will qualify for the semi-finals, followed by the final. Each tie will consist of five matches, with each match being a best-of-three-game affair.
The UTT Season 4 will also serve as a preparatory event for the Indian players who will be representing the country at the Tokyo Olympics in July. Sharath Kamal, Sathiyan, Manika, and Sutirtha have qualified for the Olympics and will be looking to fine-tune their game ahead of the mega event.
The UTT Season 4 is expected to be a thrilling spectacle of table tennis and a treat for the fans of the sport.
