UTT will provide us match practice for Asian Games: Achanta Sharath Kamal

Pune: Veteran Indian table tennis player Sharath Kamal believes that the returning Ultimate Table Tennis tournament will help players get quality match practice ahead of the Hangzhou Asian Games in September.

The league returns after a gap of four years, with the previous winner Chennai Lions taking on Puneri Paltan in the season-opener.

Talking to the media at the pre-tournament press conference, Sharath said, "UTT is back after four years, and we are hoping to see some really good table tennis. We have seen some good seasons in the past."

"A lot of young players get a chance to be a part of this journey. UTT has helped us gain the confidence and exposure which we require at the international level," he added further.

Sharath said that with Asian Games in sight, UTT will bring the much-needed match practice and quality build-up before the continental event.

“The league will give us the much-needed match practice and will act as the perfect runway for the upcoming Asian Games," Sharath said.

G Sathiyan also emphasized the importance of the league and turned back to his days as a rookie when the league helped him bridge the gap between his level and the international level.

“When I played my first season, I was that ‘upcoming player,' and now people call me a seasoned player. That kind of growth that I got, UTT helped me to gain the confidence that you can take on world-class players and then take it on the international stage,” said Sathiyan, who was retained by Dabang Delhi TT.

The six franchises will take on each other in a round-robin format, and then the top four teams will move to play the knock-out round.