By Kirti Patil
Pune: The gold medallists at the National Ranking table tennis championships—Manush Shah and Snehit SFR—will be the key paddlers who will carry the hopes of home team—Puneri Paltan Table Tennis—in the Season 4 of the Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT), which is set to take place at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Mahalunge-Balewadi July 13 to 30.
India’s premier table tennis league- UTT is promoted by Niraj Bajaj and Vita Dani under the auspices of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI). It has been a game-changer for Indian table tennis since its inception in 2017 as the league has been instrumental in showcasing the immense talent of emerging Indian players.
Manush Shah of Puneri Paltan Table Tennis hails from Vadodara and has been playing the sport from a very young age. He has also represented India in the Asian Junior Championships and Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships.
The 22-year-old recently won the title at the 2023 UTT National Ranking Championships in Vadodara. He defeated Delhi’s Sudhanshu Grover to clinch his maiden title in the tournament. The win was special for Manush as Sudhanshu had defeated the likes of Harmeet Desai and Manav Thakkar on his way to the final of the competition and was the favourite to win the title.
This season of UTT will also see some exciting young Table Tennis players take centre stage and showcase their potential, with the live action being telecast on Sports 18 and Jio Cinema
Here are the Top Youngsters to watch out for:
- Payas Jain (Chennai Lions): Payas is One of the most exciting prospects in the upcoming UTT Season. He has a unique record to his name in the Indian Table Tennis circuit. The 19-year-old is the only Indian paddler to clinch three medals in the Asian Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Championship.
Payas set a record in 2022 when he notched up a gold medal in the mixed doubles event and two bronze medals in the team and U-19 doubles events of the tournament, respectively. Payas was at his imperious best in the final defeating the Chinese pair of Han Xinyuan and Qin Yuxuan by 3-2 1(1-9, 11-1, 10-12, 7-11, 11-8) which speaks volumes of the talent he possesses.
Payas has also bagged a gold medal in the Asian Junior Championship and aims to continue his impressive performance as he gears up to play for Chennai Lions in UTT Season 4.
- Diya Chitale (U Mumba TT): Diya Chitale has gained enough experience playing with top paddlers of the world at a very young age. The 20-year-old became the doubles National Champion in 2019.
She won her first gold medal in an individual event of the Senior Women category during the National Ranking Tournament in 2022 and also got selected for the Commonwealth Games the same year due to her exceptional performances.
Diya played in the Commonwealth Games with an aggressive mindset and reached the quarterfinals of doubles and the team categories. Apart from medals in the national tournaments, she has notched up two medals in the WTT Youth Contender tournaments as well and will be one of the players on the U Mumba TT squad to watch out for in UTT Season 4.
- Snehit SFR (Puneri Paltan Table Tennis): Snehit is excited about playing in the UTT for the first time in his career. The 22-year-old belongs to Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh has won numerous medals in the Indian Table Tennis circuit with the latest being a silver medal in the 2023 National Ranking Tournament in Hyderabad.
He played brilliantly in the whole tournament and only lost to star India paddler Manav Thakkar in the final. Before the National Ranking Tournament, Snehit had won a gold medal in the 2022 National Games in Gujarat. He has also represented India in various competitions including Czech Open and Kazakhstan Open in different categories.
Snehit will now look to produce impactful performances in one of the biggest stages of his career –the UTT Season.
