Paddlers ready for Ultimate challenge
CHENNAI: Table tennis is finally set to join the sporting-league bandwagon in the country, following the successful route taken by the likes of kabaddi and wrestling.
The first leg of the Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) begins at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai on Thursday, with RP-SG Mavericks — featuring Indian ace Sharath Kamal — taking on Falcons TTC, comprising World No 13 woman paddler Wu Yang.
The league will see a new format. Each team will play nine matches in a tie, with each match comprising three games. Each game will have players competing to score 11 points first, with the team earning one point for each such game won. The team with 14 or more points will be declared the winner.
The opening encounter is always vital, and both teams will be looking to begin their campaign on a high. With a tricky format, it is imperative for both teams to figure out their combinations.
“The format is new for everybody involved. All teams need to get a hang of it. It might take time, but the quicker a team gets accustomed to it, the better. I’m sure that all the other teams will be looking at our match tomorrow and trying to figure out how to go about doing things,” World No 43 Sharath told Express.
All the teams assembled in the city on July 8 and got going — be it practice, promotional events, as well as team bonding. This time was vital as most players are new to the conditions here.
“Many of the foreign stars are coming here for the first time, and they don’t know all the Indian players well. It was good for the team as we prepared our strategy and also helped the players to get to know each other. Ultimately, combinations will be key,” Falcons TTC’s Indian coach Soumyadeep Roy said.
Falcons boast of Sanil Shetty, Arjun Ghosh, Sutirtha Mukherjee and Priyadarshini Das, along with foreign recruits Lee Ho Ching, Par Gerell and Liam Pitchford. RP-SG Mavericks have the likes of Birdie Boro, Archana Kamath and Amrutha Pushpak, while Apolonia Tiago, Stefan Fegerl, Sabine Winter and Sofia Polconova form their foreign line-up.
ayantan@newindianexpress.com