The Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) 2024 Players Draft is set to be a thrilling event, featuring a strong lineup of top players from around the world. The draft will take place in Mumbai on July 10th, with 47 players, including eight foreign players, participating.
Among the notable players set to be drafted are World No. 10 Bernadette Szocs from Romania, rising Indian paddler Sreeja Akula, Nigerian ace Quadri Aruna, and Germany’s Nina Mittelham. Sreeja, who recently made history by becoming the first Indian paddler to win a WTT Contender singles title, will be a key attraction for fans. Szocs will be making her third appearance in the UTT, while Quadri will be returning for his fourth. Mittelham will be making her UTT debut this year.
The draft will also feature a strong contingent of Indian talent, including Asian Games doubles bronze medallists Ayhika Mukherjee and Sutirtha Mukherjee, as well as up-and-coming players like Yashaswini Ghorpade, Diya Chitale, Poymantee Baisya, Taneesha Kotecha, Snehit SFR, Jeet Chandra, Manush Shah, and Yashansh Malik.
Several international players will also be part of the draft, including Thailand’s Suthasini Sawettabut, who played a key role in Goa Challengers’ title win last year, Sakura Mori, Lily Zhang, Orawan Paranang, Jules Rolland, Lilian Bardet of France, Joao Monteiro of Portugal, Alvaro Robles of Spain, and Cho Seungmin of South Korea.
Star Indian paddlers Achanta Sharath Kamal, G Sathiyan, Harmeet Desai, Manav Thakkar, and Manika Batra have already been retained by their respective franchises for the upcoming season.
The UTT 2024 season will be an eight-team league, providing a platform for young Indian paddlers to showcase their talent alongside some of the world’s best players. The tournament will be held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai from August 22nd to September 7th. The event promises to be an exciting spectacle for table tennis fans in India and around the world.
