Ultimate Table Tennis 2023: Franchises take their picks at coach draft for UTT season 4

Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) conducted the coach draft on Friday, May 5, in Mumbai for the upcoming season of the tournament. The six franchises selected their coaches for the fourth edition of UTT, scheduled to be held from July 13 to 20.

The coach draft started by deciding the order for selection. Each team picked up the numbered ball (1-6) from a pouch for Round 1. The order would be reversed in Round 2. Each team had to pick one Indian and one foreign coach.

Bengaluru Smashers, the newest entrant to the league, was the first among the six teams to take a pick. They went for Mumbai-based coach Sachin Shetty, who is also the brother of Indian table tennis star Sanil Shetty.

“I think Vesna and Sachin were a combination for Delhi which ended up as runners-up in 2019. We had that at the back of our mind. Our team had done the homework and these were our first choices. It’s always good to be a part of a league, especially a non-cricketing league. We are happy to be a part of UTT,” said Punit Balan, owner of Bengaluru Smashers.

Dabang Delhi TTC went for the services of the experienced Indian table tennis coach A Muralidhara Rao. They later picked Serbia’s four-time Olympian Slobodan Grujic in the second round.

Speaking about the process of picking up coaches, Dabang Delhi TTC owner Radha Kapoor Khanna said:

“We came in with a few equations in mind between the international and Indian coaches. We had a few options. We are hoping that a combination of Muralidhara Rao and Slobodan brings in the winning spirit.”

Senior national champion Sreeja Akula’s coach Somnath Ghosh was roped in by the Chennai Lions. The defending champions of UTT also picked German Jorg Bitzigeio, who helped the German women’s team win the bronze medal at the 2010 World Team Championships.

“We are elated to be a part of UTT. We intend to give our best. The combination of Somnath Ghosh and Jorg Bitzigeio will help us choose the best players available in the draft,” Chennai Lions owners Harini Yadav and Karishma Yadav said in a joint statement.

UTT 2023: U Mumba TT and Puneri Paltan get their desired combination

U Mumba TT and Puneri Paltan Table Tennis found their desired combination. U Mumba went for Portugal’s Francisco Santos and Anshul Garg, while Puneri Paltan got N Ravichandran and Zoltan Batorfi of Hungary. Meanwhile, Goa Challengers picked a combination of five-time Olympian Elena Timina and Parag Agrawal.

The player’s draft will be held in the first week of June. The event will be held after four years owing to the COVID-19 hiatus. The UTT season 4 will be played at the Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune.