"Looking forward to playing against him" - U Mumba TT's Manav Thakkar reveals the battle he's looking forward to at Ultimate Table Tennis 2023

U Mumba TT pulled off a no-brainer ahead of the Player Draft for the fourth edition of Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) by retaining their star paddler - Manav Thakkar. The 23-year-old was seen at U Mumba's table during the Player Draft, helping the side build a formidable squad.

As UTT returns after nearly four years, U Mumba TT will be looking to go all the way after their campaign ended in the semi-finals last season, much to the disappointment of their ardent fans. However, having assembled what seems to be quite a strong squad, the franchise will have their eyes set on the UTT Cup.

Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda, Manav expressed his disappointment at the fact that U Mumba TT couldn't make it to the finals last season post a nail-biting semi-final. However, he was pleased with the way in which the draft had gone for U Mumba TT and reiterated that they had a strong squad and a pair of experienced coaches.

"Last season was actually a very good season for us, we finished third and we were a little disappointed because we finished third and it was a very close match," said Manav."This season, in the draft, I think we were very successful - we have a very good team. So looking forward to this season."

Manav added:

"Hope we can take the trophy home, which we couldn't do last season. We will give our best. We have a good team, we have very good coaches so I will work with them and make my game a better one for this upcoming season."

Speaking about one encounter he was looking forward to this season, Manav will be eager to play against the Chennai Lions as it will give him a chance to go up against his mentor, Sharath Kamal.

"I would say Chennai Lions because Sharath Kamal is my mentor since 2018. Looking forward to playing against him. I want to challenge him. Hopefully, I can also win against him and hopefully I can do that this season. Looking forward to playing against Chennai Lions this season."

With the tournament being staged at Balewadi Stadium, Pune this year, U Mumba TT will enjoy home support. He added that support from the audience can put pressure on the opposition team.

"I think it is really important (crowd support) because the format is so interesting - only three games. So if you can put pressure on the other team through crowd support, you have a bigger advantage. Because we are playing at Pune, we have a home advantage as well. So we will have a good advantage."

Manav also spoke about how the support is a confidence-booster for the players and requested fans to turn up in large numbers to cheer for the side. He promised that they would do their best to live up to fans' expectations.

"If we are under pressure, it will help us as the crowd will be cheering for us, as you saw in other sports. I would tell them to come out there, support us and we will give our best to make you happy and make our team happy."

U Mumba TT signed Anshul Garg and Francisco Santos as their coaches. They followed that up by building a solid team around Manav Thakkar consisting of the likes of Lily Zhang, Aruna Quadri, Diya Chitale, Mouma Das and Sudhanshu Grover.