India’s top-ranked paddler Sharath Kamal was picked up by RP-SG Mavericks during the player draft of the Ultimate Table Tennis, a six-team franchise-based that will be held across three cities in the country between July 13-30.
The draft process, held at Mumbai’s National Sports Club of India, saw a total of 24 foreign players and 24 Indian players get divided into the six teams, with each team claiming eight players each.
While Kamal was in focus, the league will also see the participation of world No 7 Wong Chun Tin, who was picked by Maharashtra United where he will be joined by India’s second-ranked men’s player Harmeet Desai.
“The Ultimate Table Tennis will offer a great exposure to our Indian players to play alongside top ranking foreign players and also to be trained by the foreign coaches. I am really looking forward to the league,” said Desai.
Among the women, Han Ying of Germany, who is ranked ninth in the world, was picked up by Team Challengers. World No 11 Wu Yang of China will feature for Bayside Spinners. India’s top-ranked women’s player Madhurika Patkar, will ply her trade for Dabang Smashers.
“I am excited to be selected by the Dabang Smashers for the Ultimate Table Tennis,” Madhurika said. “The team has good players and I’m thrilled to play alongside them. This league will definitely help the sport prosper in India,” she added.
The league will be held in three cities including Chennai, Delhi with the final leg of the tournament to held in Mumbai.
India’s time to shine
Talking about the league, former national champion Kamlesh Mehta, who was present at the player draft said: “The league gives a chance for Indian players to train and play with foreign players for 21 days. This league is not only being supported by the Table Tennis Federation of India but also by the Asian and World Table Tennis bodies. We have got a dedicated window (June-July every year) to conduct it. This is a unique league where each team will be a mix of men and women,” Mehta said.
Each franchise paid a total of Rs 2.6 crores, which covers all the expenses of the league including the travel and accommodation of the players. “We are not here to make money and want to run a low-cost model league,” said Vita Dani, co-promoter and chairperson of the league’s owners, 1lEven Sports. Dani also added that the costliest player in the league was worth Rs 20 lakh and cheapest was bagged at Rs 1.5 lakh. The price tag for each player was set on the basis of their ranking.
The winner of the league will receive a cheque of Rs One crore with the runners-up bagging Rs 75 lakhs.