New Delhi [India], July 4 (ANI): India’s premier desk tennis league — Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) is all set for its fourth season, scheduled to be held on the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Mahalunge-Balewadi in Pune from July 13 to July 30.
The franchise-based league underneath the auspices of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI), has been a game-changer for Indian desk tennis since its inception in 2017. Going past being a platform for world-class desk tennis motion, the league has been instrumental in showcasing the immense expertise of rising Indian gamers.
In the inaugural seasons of UTT, then rising stars like Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Manav Thakkar, Sutirtha Mukherjee, and Manika Batra come to the fore.
The league options among the high desk tennis gamers from all over the world, and India has its justifiable share of gifted gamers representing within the combine. Here are the Top-7 Indian gamers to be careful for in Season 4:1. Achanta Sharath Kamal (WR 54, Chennai Lions): Besides his four-Olympic appearances Sharath Kamal can also be a 10-time nationwide champion. He alongside Manika Batra gained the historic bronze on the 2018 Asian Games. In the Season 3 of UTT, Sharath secured the championship title for Chennai Lions by defeating Sathiyan Gnanasekaran’s Dabang Delhi TTC within the last. Retained by Chennai Lions for Season 4, Sharath has been a part of all editions of UTT. He is thought for his right-handed shakehand grip and his psychological toughness. Gold and silver medalist on the 2022 Commonwealth Games, he has additionally been awarded the Khel Ratna, the Arjuna Award and the Padma Shri.
2. Manika Batra (WR 38, Bengaluru Smashers): Manika Batra is a desk tennis participant with many firsts. She grew to become the primary Indian to win a medal (bronze whereas partnering Achanta Sharath Kamal) at Asian Games in 2018. In 2022, she grew to become the primary girl to win an Asian Cup medal; a bronze. She bagged two gold medals, a silver and a bronze on the Commonwealth Games in 2018. Currently ranked thirty eighth on the earth, Manika has achieved notable success. In the second season of UTT, she performed a significant position in main the Dabang Delhi TTC workforce to victory alongside Sathiyan Gnanasekaran. She will prove for Bengaluru Smashers within the forthcoming version.
3. Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (WR 60, Dabang Delhi TTC): Sathiyan Gnanasekaran achieved a career-best world rating of 24 in 2019, making him the primary Indian paddler to interrupt into the world high 25. He has additionally participated in worldwide leagues in Japan and France. He was a key member of the Indian workforce that gained gold medals on the 2018 and 2022 Commonwealth Games. Sathiyan shocked World No 8 Wong Chun Ting of Hong Kong in an Ultimate Table Tennis match between Dabang Smashers and DHFL in UTT Season 1. The Arjuna awardee spearheaded Dabang Delhi TTC’s title cost in UTT Season 3 serving to them attain the finals. He was retained by franshisee for the upcoming version after having participated in each version up to now.
4. Manav Thakkar (WR 107; U Mumba TT): Former World No 1 within the U-18 and U-21 ITTF Men’s rankings, Manav Thakkar is a rising star on the Indian desk tennis circuit. After beginning his journey at a younger age, Manav achieved success on the Asian Championships with a bronze medal. He was retained by U Mumba TT for UTT Season 4 after having participated in three UTT editions already. With a number of podium finishes in prestigious tournaments, Manav continues to showcase his potential.
5. Sreeja Akula (WR 99, Dabang Delhi TTC): In 2022, Sreeja Akula grew to become the primary Telangana girls to clinch the senior nationals title and likewise ended the state’s 58-year-old medal drought. The 24-year-old maintained her dominance on the home circuit and efficiently defended her crown earlier this yr. She was a part of the Indian squad that gained gold medal in combined doubles occasion with Sharath Kamal on the 2022 Commonwealth Games. She additionally gained gold in girls’s doubles and girls’s workforce occasions on the 2019 South Asian Games. Although Sreeja has solely participated in a single version of UTT, Sreeja was naturally Dabang Delhi TTC’s first choose.
6. Sutirtha Mukherjee (WR 116, Chennai Lions): Two-time nationwide champion Sutirtha Mukherjee has left her mark on UTT with some good performances together with a surprising victory over then World No. 9 Cheng I-Ching in Season 3. Since that victory, Sutirtha’s profession has seen an increase as she has clinched three gold medals — singles, combined doubles and workforce — on the South Asian Games in 2019. Recently the 27-year-old made headlines after bagging the doubles title on the WTT Contender in Tunis final month alongside Ayhika Mukherjee. Sutirtha shall be seeking to lengthen her spectacular run for the defending champions Chennai Lions at UTT Season 4.
7. Harmeet Desai (WR 71, Goa Challengers): The 29-year-old paddler from Surat, Gujarat has been a constant performer. He was a part of the squad that gained gold within the males’s workforce occasion on the 2018 Commonwealth Games and gold on the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Harmeet additionally had a spectacular 2019 the place he gained the gold in males’s doubles, combined doubles and males’s workforce occasions on the South Asian Games held in Kathmandu. This degree of consistency had Goa Challengers choose him first within the UTT Season 4 Player Draft .
These Indian desk tennis gamers convey their distinctive skills and dedication to the UTT.
All the dwell motion shall be broadcasted on Sports 18 and streamed on JioCinema as Bengaluru Smashers, Chennai Lions, Dabang Delhi TTC, Goa Challengers, Puneri Paltan Table Tennis and U Mumba TT combat for the title.(ANI)