Ultimate Table Tennis 2024: Franchises announce their retentions ahead of the upcoming season

Modified Jun 19, 2024 06:37 IST

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Ahead of the upcoming Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) 2024 season, five franchises have retained their best paddlers. The upcoming season is scheduled to be held in Chennai from August 22 to September 7.

Promoted by Niraj Bajaj and Vita Dani under the guidance of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI), the franchise-based Indian table tennis league has played a pivotal role in elevating the sport since its inception in 2017.

For the first time, the league will be an eight-team affair, providing an ideal platform for young Indian paddlers to showcase their talent alongside the world’s elite players.

The experienced table tennis duo of Achanta Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra were among the top Indian stars retained by the franchises. Let’s delve into the details of the paddlers who were retained by their respective franchises.

While last edition’s runners-up Chennai Lions retained the services of legend ace Indian paddler Sharath Kamal, Bengaluru Smashers will continue to have the services of the highest-ranked Indian, Manika Batra.

Goa Challengers, the defending champions, retained the services of Harmeet Desai, who played an important role in taking the team to a title win. Meanwhile, Dabang Delhi TTC will continue to have Sathiyan Gnanasekaran on their side.

U Mumba TT has also extended its association with talented young paddler Manav Thakkar for Ultimate Table Tennis 2024.

“Over the years, the franchises have not only looked to win titles but also focused on building the core of their team around their star player who can lead the team. The same thought process is visible in the player retention for UTT 2024 as we see the five franchises sticking to their star performers for yet another season,” UTT promoters Niraj Bajaj and Vita Dani said in a joint statement.

According to the rules of Ultimate Table Tennis 2024, the six existing franchises were allowed to retain one Indian player. However, Puneri Paltan Table Tennis decided not to retain any players.

Meanwhile, new entrants Jaipur Patriots and Ahmedabad SG Pipers will select a player of their choice in the first round of the player draft. The first round will have only three picks.

The countdown for the new season began with all eight franchises picking up one foreigner and one Indian coach from the Coach Draft and will now look to build a six-player squad that will include four Indians and two foreigners (one male and one female).

The upcoming Ultimate Table Tennis season will see a few changes in the format with two new franchises joining in. Eight sides will be divided into two groups of four teams each. Each team will play five ties during the group stage, competing with the other three teams within their respective group and two randomly selected teams from the other group once. The top two teams from each group will later move to the semi-finals.