UTT 2024: Ahmedabad, Jaipur join the Ultimate Table Tennis bandwagon

Ultimate Table Tennis, India’s top table tennis league, have announced the introduction of two new teams for the upcoming season of the league. The Ultimate Table Tennis league will now be an eight-team league with addition of two new franchises – Ahmedabad SG Pipers and Jaipur Patriots.

The upcoming season of the Ultimate Table Tennis league will commence at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai from August 22. The league will run till September 7.

The franchise-based league is promoted by Niraj Bajaj and Vita Dani, who is the co-owner of Indian Super League club Chennaiyin FC. The league is recognised and is played under the auspices of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI).

The league took birth in 2017 and has been a six-team league since then, with Goa Challengers, Chennai Lions, Dabang Delhi TTC, U Mumba TT, Puneri Paltan and Bengaluru Smashers vying for the top honours. From the upcoming 2024 season, Ahmedabad SG Pipers and Jaipur Patriots will join the mix.

The eight teams are now divided into two groups of four teams each. Each team will play five ties against other teams within their group, facing each franchise once, and two randomly selected teams from the second group, which will be determined through a draw.

Goa Challengers are the defending champions of the league after beating former champions Chennai Lions in the final of the 2023 edition.

Each team will continue to have six players, including two foreign players.

The eight-team league will provide a platform for young Indian paddlers to hone their skills and play alongside some of the best in business. The league is also aimed at elevating the standard of sports in the country.

Vita Dani, the chairperson of the UTT, said the league has consistently delivered on the lines of the league’s core mission. “The core mission behind UTT’s inception was to enhance the stature of table tennis in India, providing our players with a platform to compete against the world's best and propel Indian table tennis to unprecedented heights. Recent historic victories by our Indian players against Chinese opponents and the National men’s and women’s teams qualifying for the Olympics through the world team rankings underscore this mission,” Dani said, in a statement, to the media.

Niraj Bajaj, the co-promoter of UTT, said the league aims to capitalise on the prevailing Olympics fever, as the league is scheduled to commence post the Paris Olympics. “The introduction of additional teams will infuse a heightened level of competition, strategically coinciding with the post-Paris Games period to capitalise on the prevailing Olympic fervour nationwide,” he said.