Chennai (Tamil Nadu):The Ultimate Table Tennis tournament will feature eight teams competing for the title and the final will be played on 7 September. The Ultimate Table Tennis 2024 tournament will start with a clash between defending champions Goa Challengers and newcomers Jaipur Patriots on August 22 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai.
Ultimate Table Tennis was introduced in 2017 and continued for another two editions in 2018 and 2019. However, the tournament wasn't held from 2020 to 2022 and then returned back in 2023. UTT 2024 will witness a total of 48 table tennis players in action, including 16 overseas paddlers. India’s Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra will headline the tournament, while Romania’s Bernadette Szocs and Germany’s Nina Mittelham, both ranked in the top 20 in women’s singles, will also feature.
The table tennis tournament will have a total of 23 ties. Each tie will include five matches - two men’s singles, two women’s singles and one mixed doubles match. Two new teams join the roster - Ahmedabad SG Pipers and Jaipur Patriots – at Ultimate Table Tennis 2024. The eight teams will be split into two groups of four. All teams will play five matches each in the group stage. Each team will play three ties against the teams in their group and two ties against the teams in the other group. A consolidated table will be maintained for all eight teams and the top four will make the semi-finals.
A press meet was held in Chennai before the start of the tournament. Indian veteran paddler and Olympian Sharath Kamal said that the players will try to utilise their experiences from the Olympics in the tournament.
"For the first time, the men's and women's teams participated in the Paris Olympic Series. We will implement the experiences for the Olympic series in this series. As far as I am concerned, I have been playing in the Olympics since 2004. So far I have participated in 5 Olympics. India's place in the world rankings has been improving over the years. So India will definitely win at least one medal in table tennis in the next Olympics or the 2032 Olympics. I'm not going to play in the next Olympics. Experience is gained by playing with international players and playing with world champions. Participating in an international competition builds mental strength," he stated.
Ultimate Table Tennis 2024 teams and squads:
Ahmedabad SG Pipers: Bernadette Szocs (Romania), Jash Modi, Lilian Bardet (FRA), Manush Shah, Prita Vartikar, Reeth Rishya