Table Tennis
Ultimate Table Tennis 2024: Preview, schedule, where to watch
The fifth edition of the marquee table tennis event will take place in Chennai, starting from August 22 until September 7.
Sharath Kamal will turn out for the Chennai Lions. (Photo Credit: UTT)
The highly-anticipated Ultimate Table Tennis tournament is all set to begin at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai from August 22 to September 7.
This season marks an expansion of the league, with eight teams competing, up from six in the previous year.
And like the previous seasons, this year will also see big names from the table tennis community taking part in the event, both Indian and international.
Top global stars
Among the top competitors are world No. 10 Bernadette Szocs, world No. 16 Nina Mittelham, and Nigerian star and world No. 19 Quadri Aruna.
The Indian contingent includes prominent paddlers Achanta Sharath Kamal (WR 40) and Manika Batra (WR 28), alongside rising talents such as Yashaswini Ghorpade, Diya Chitale, Poymantee Baisya, Abhinandh PB, Jeet Chandra, and Yashansh Malik.
A total of 48 players, including 16 international stars, will participate in this franchise-based league, with 23 matches scheduled to be played in total.
The opening game is set to be played between defending champions, Goa Challengers, and one of the two newcomers, Jaipur Patriots.
The other debutant team, Ahmedabad SG Pipers, will kick off their campaign against Puneri Paltan Table Tennis on August 23.
The new format explained
This season introduces a revised format due to the addition of two new teams.
The league stage will see teams split into two groups of four.
Each team will play five ties: three against teams in their group and two against randomly chosen teams from the other group.
The top four teams on the points table will advance to the knockout stage, with the semifinals structured as team no. 1 vs team no. 4 and team no. 2 vs team no. 3.
Each tie will consist of five matches: two men’s singles, two women’s singles, and one mixed doubles.
Matches will begin at 7:30 PM, with six double-header days scheduled.
The first match on these days will start at 5:00 PM, followed by the second at 7:30 PM.
The semifinals are slated for September 5 and 6, with the final set for September 7.
Full squad list:
Ahmedabad SG Pipers: Bernadette Szocs (Romania), Jash Modi, Lilian Bardet (FRA), Manush Shah, Prita Vartikar, Reeth Rishya.
Chennai Lions: Abhinandh PB, Jules Roland (FRA), Mouma Das, Poymantee Baisya, Sakura Mori (JPN), Sharath Kamal.
Dabang Delhi: Andreas Levenko (AUT), Diya Chitale, Lakshita Narang, Orawan Paranang (THA), Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Yashansh Malik.
Bengaluru Smashers: Alvaro Robels (ESP), Amalraj Antony, Jeet Chandra, Lily Zhang, Manika Batra, Taneesha Kotecha.
Goa Challengers: Harmeet Desai, Mihai Bobocica, Sayali Wani, Sudhanshu Grover, Yangzi Liu (AUS), Yashaswini Ghorpade.
Jaipur Patriots: Cho Seungmin (KOR), Moumita Dutta, Ronit Bhanja, Snehit, Suthasini Saveettabut, Nithyashree Mani.
Puneri Paltan: Ankur Bhattacharjee, Anirban Ghosh, Ayhika Mukherjee, Joao Monteiro (POR), Natalia Bajor (POL), Yashini Sivasankar.
UMumba: Akash Pal, Kavyasree Baskar, Manav Thakkar, Maria Xiao (ESP), Quadri Aruna (NIG), Sutirtha Mukherjee.
Where to watch UTT 2024?
All matches of Ultimate Table Tennis 2024 will be live on Sports18 and live-streamed on the JioCinema app.
