Final Desk Tennis: Prime-7 Indian stars to be careful for in season 4

New Delhi, July 3 – The Final Desk Tennis (UTT) is all set for its fourth season, scheduled to be held on the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports activities Complicated, Mahalunge-Balewadi in Pune from July 13 to 30.

The franchise-based league has been a game-changer for Indian desk tennis since its inception in 2017. Going past being a platform for world-class desk tennis motion, the league has been instrumental in showcasing the immense expertise of rising Indian gamers.

Within the inaugural seasons of UTT, then rising stars like Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Manav Thakkar, Sutirtha Mukherjee, and Manika Batra come to the fore.

The league options among the high desk tennis gamers from all over the world, and India has its fair proportion of gifted gamers representing within the combine.

– Commercial –

Listed below are the Prime-7 Indian gamers to be careful for within the Season 4:

Achanta Sharath Kamal (WR 54, Chennai Lions): Apart from his four-Olympic appearances Sharath Kamal can be a 10-time nationwide champion. He alongside Manika Batra received the historic bronze on the 2018 Asian Video games. Within the Season 3 of UTT, Sharath secured the championship title for Chennai Lions by defeating Sathiyan Gnanasekaran’s Dabang Delhi TTC within the ultimate. Retained by Chennai Lions for Season 4, Sharath has been a part of all editions of UTT. He’s identified for his right-handed shakehand grip and his psychological toughness. Gold and silver medalist on the 2022 Commonwealth Video games, he has additionally been awarded the Khel Ratna, the Arjuna Award and the Padma Shri.

Manika Batra (WR 38, Bengaluru Smashers): Manika Batra is a desk tennis participant with many firsts. She turned the primary Indian to win a medal (bronze whereas partnering Achanta Sharath Kamal) at Asian Video games in 2018. In 2022, she turned the primary girl to win an Asian Cup medal; a bronze. She bagged two gold medals, a silver and a bronze on the Commonwealth Video games in 2018. At the moment ranked thirty eighth on this planet, Manika has achieved notable success. Within the second season of UTT, she performed an important function in main the Dabang Delhi TTC group to victory alongside Sathiyan Gnanasekaran. She’s going to end up for Bengaluru Smashers within the forthcoming version.

Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (WR 60, Dabang Delhi TTC): Sathiyan Gnanasekaran achieved a career-best world rating of 24 in 2019, making him the primary Indian paddler to interrupt into the world high 25. He has additionally participated in worldwide leagues in Japan and France. He was a key member of the Indian group that received gold medals on the 2018 and 2022 Commonwealth Video games. Sathiyan surprised World No 8 Wong Chun Ting of Hong Kong in an Final Desk Tennis match between Dabang Smashers and DHFL in UTT Season 1. The Arjuna awardee spearheaded Dabang Delhi TTC’s title cost in UTT Season 3 serving to them attain the finals. He was retained by franshisee for the upcoming version after having participated in each version up to now.

Manav Thakkar (WR 107; U Mumba TT): Former World No 1 within the U-18 and U-21 ITTF Males’s rankings, Manav Thakkar is a rising star on the Indian desk tennis circuit. After beginning his journey at a younger age, Manav achieved success on the Asian Championships with a bronze medal. He was retained by U Mumba TT for UTT Season 4 after having participated in three UTT editions already. With a number of podium finishes in prestigious tournaments, Manav continues to showcase his potential.

Sreeja Akula (WR 99, Dabang Delhi TTC): In 2022, Sreeja Akula turned the primary Telangana ladies to clinch the senior nationals title and likewise ended the state’s 58-year-old medal drought. The 24-year-old maintained her dominance on the home circuit and efficiently defended her crown earlier this yr. She was a part of the Indian squad that received gold medal in combined doubles occasion with Sharath Kamal on the 2022 Commonwealth Video games. She additionally received gold in ladies’s doubles and ladies’s group occasions on the 2019 South Asian Video games. Though Sreeja has solely participated in a single version of UTT, Sreeja was naturally Dabang Delhi TTC’s first choose.

Sutirtha Mukherjee (WR 116, Chennai Lions): Two-time nationwide champion Sutirtha Mukherjee has left her mark on UTT with some good performances together with a surprising victory over then World No. 9 Cheng I-Ching in Season 3. Since that victory, Sutirtha’s profession has seen an increase as she has clinched three gold medals — singles, combined doubles and group — on the South Asian Video games in 2019. Lately the 27-year-old made headlines after bagging the doubles title on the WTT Contender in Tunis final month alongside Ayhika Mukherjee. Sutirtha shall be seeking to prolong her spectacular run for the defending champions Chennai Lions at UTT Season 4.

Harmeet Desai (WR 71, Goa Challengers): The 29-year-old paddler from Surat, Gujarat has been a constant performer. He was a part of the squad that received gold within the males’s group occasion on the 2018 Commonwealth Video games and gold on the 2022 Commonwealth Video games in Birmingham. Harmeet additionally had a spectacular 2019 the place he received the gold in males’s doubles, combined doubles and males’s group occasions on the South Asian Video games held in Kathmandu. This degree of consistency had Goa Challengers choose him first within the UTT Season 4 Participant Draft .