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Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
Goal is to break into top-75 and then to top-50: young paddler Gorpade
Ahmedabad, Having made her senior debut in 2024, young Indian women table tennis player Yashaswani Ghorpade has fast risen in the sport, breaking into world top 100 the same year. But Ghorpade, ranked 84 in the world currently, is now determined to break into top-75 and then to top-50 to seal her place in next year's Asian Games in Japan and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. "I was in 8th standard when I won my first national championships in Under-15 and then I won with Under-19 national championships. Last year, I did well in the domestic circuit. I finished second in the national rankings. I also got into top 100 world rankings last year," she told PTI. " my first goal is to be in the top-75 and to become India no.1 this year only. These are my short-term one-year goals. But of course Asian Games is the next target. The next big Games after that are the Olympics. So after getting into top 75, the goal is to get into top 50 and get a good seeding to make it to the Olympics. "Asian Games there is a criteria that we need to maintain good national ranking as well as world rankings to qualify directly," she added. Ghorpade partners with Diya Chitale in women's doubles and pairs up with Harmeet Desai in mixed doubles. Highlighting some of her achievements in her nascent journey, she said: "I have been former a world no.1 in Under-15 girls, and we have been the runner-up in WTT Contender last year." However, the journey was not easy for Ghorpade as she struggled with fitness from childhood. "I started my sports journey when I was in second standard. I was not a very strong kid and I used to fall sick often, so my parents wanted me to start sports, something indoor. I noticed table tennis was going on in my school, so I joined that. "I have been connected with table tennis for last 12 years and its been an amazing, continuous journey. When I started I would have never thought I would be at this place. I am very grateful," said the rising paddler, who studies second year in Jain University. Ghorpade, who idolises Manika Batra and Desai, also shared her future plans. "Three Smash tournaments are lined up in the coming 2 months US, Europe and China and then Asian Championships to be held in Bhubaneswar in October," she said. "I do look up to Manika di and Harmeet bhaiya. Both of them have been amazing. Manika di has given us a very high bench mark and Harmeet bhaiya has always been a very good supporter." In the ongoing Season 6 of Ultimate Table Tennis, Ghorpade is turning out for UMumba TT, having made her debut in the tournament last year with two-time defending champions Goa Challengers. "This is my second year in UTT. First season was amazing, I was with the Goa Challengers and it was dream come true to win the title. "UTT gave very good foundation for women's TT in India. In UTT we get to play with the foreign players, get to interact with them," she concluded.
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
Contrasting victories for Goa Challengers and Dabang Delhi
Defending champion Goa Challengers and last year's finalist Dabang Delhi TTC began their Ultimate Table Tennis Season 6 campaign with wins in contrasting fashion on the opening day at the EKA Arena here on Saturday. Goa Challengers — with Gujarati captain Harmeet Desai and his better half Krittwika Sinha Roy — was stretched to the hilt by 2024 semifinalist Ahmedabad SG Pipers. The tie was open till the last last rubber when Zeng Jian closed it out by pipping Giorgia Piccolin to set up a 10-5 win. Dabang Delhi rode on captain G. Sathiyan's exploits to outplay Jaipur Patriots 11-4. Sathiyan didn't concede a single game in his six matches, including the mixed doubles with southpaw Maria Xiao as his partner. Had Diya Chitale — the National women's champion — not squandered a 7-2 lead in the last league and kept a clean slate, the Delhi squad would have equalled the joint-highest margin of result record. In a late match, Harmeet and Krittwika had impressive outings in singles. Harmeet saved a match point in the second game against the seasoned German Ricardo Walther before running away with the decider. Krittwika used her experience against Ayhika Mukherjee to put Challengers in charge. The results: Dabang Delhi TTC bt Jaipur Patriots 11-4 (Izaac Quek bt Kanak Jha 5-11, 11-5, 11-9; Maria Xiao lost to Sreeja Akula 11-4, 9-11, 10-11; G. Sathiyan & Maria Xiao bt Jha & Sreeja 11-6, 11-10, 11-6; Sathiyan bt Jeet Chandra 11-6, 11-7, 11-6; Diya Chitale bt Britt Eerland 11-8, 11-7, 8-11). Dempo Goa Challengers bt Ahmedabad SG Pipers 10-5 (Tiago Apolonia bt SFR Snehit 11-6, 11-6, 10-11; Krittwika Sinha Roy bt Ayhika Mukherjee 4-11, 11-8, 11-9; Zeng Jian & Harmeet Desai lost to Ayhika & Ricardo Walther 9-11, 10-11, 11-10; Harmeet bt Riccardo Walther 6-11, 11-10, 11-3; Zeng bt Giorgio Piccolin 11-7, 11-7, 11-5). Sunday's fixture: U Mumba TT vs PBG Pune Jaguars (5 p.m.)
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Business Standard
2 days ago
- Sport
- Business Standard
Harmeet Desai eyes 2026 Asian Games, begins preparations with UTT
Two-time CWG champion Harmeet Desai is focussed on a podium finish at next year's Asian Games in Japan and will use the sixth season of Ultimate Table Tennis, which will feature many accomplished players, to kick-start his preparations for the continent event. Desai, currently ranked 66th in the world, bagged gold medals in men's team event at the 2018 Gold Coast and 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games. He also has a bronze medal in men's doubles at Gold Coast and a bronze at the men's team event in 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. "I don't like to predict so much. I am just taking it step by step, at the moment I am just focussing on UTT," Desai, who will be turning out for two-time champions Goa Challengers in the eight-team UTT, told PTI. "Definitely more important tournaments are coming. Next is Slovenia WTT tournament, Asian Games is also lined up next year so my focus is on to that as of now. "The UTT is a great platform to start my preparations for the Asian Games as many world champions, Asian champions and Olympians are participating in the event," he added. Goa Challengers are two-time defending champions, having won the title in 2023 and 2024 and are eyeing a hat-trick of crowns. He feels the league has changed the face of the sport in India. It began in 2017 but because of COVID two seasons didn't happen. "If you see the graph of Indian table tennis it has risen a lot. We used to be ranked around No.30 in the world but now we came up to top-10 in the recent past," Desai said. "In the last Olympics both the teams qualified for the very first time. We have been winning medals at the Asian Championships, Commonwealth Games. So many players have entered into top-100 in world rankings. "The juniors have been really doing well. Senior women team got into top-25 in the world rankings. These kind of things never happened before, so all credit goes to UTT because it gave us exposure to learn from foreign players, foreign coaches," he added. Desai, who is from Surat, is excited to play in his home state, which is hosting the tournament for the first time. "It's first UTT season in Gujarat, my home state, so I am really excited to perform before home fans. So it's a big opportunity to inspire youngsters who are taking table tennis as a future prospect. "It will great platform youngsters of Gujarat to watch international players, including 32 Olympians," he noted. The sixth season of UTT will be held at the EKA Arena here from May 31 till June 15.
The Hindu
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
Indian paddlers poised to deliver in sixth season of Ultimate Table Tennis
After delivering fast-paced action to fans in Delhi, Pune, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai over the first five seasons, the Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) caravan is headed to a new destination. The sixth edition of the franchise-based league is set to take place at the EKA Arena in Ahmedabad from May 31 to June 15. Conducted under the auspices of the Table Tennis Federation of India and promoted by Vita Dani and Niraj Bajaj, UTT has featured the crème de la crème of Indian table tennis along with several well-known global stars since its inception in 2017. The tournament has typically been organised in June and July, except for the last season, which began in late August due to the Paris Olympics. However, the upcoming edition, comprising 23 ties across 16 days, begins less than a week after the conclusion of the World Championships in Doha on May 25, where 20 of the 48 UTT players were in action. 'It's a very small window that we have. Players don't play every day, and the amount of game time is also very concise,' Dani told Sportstar when asked about potential concerns regarding fatigue or withdrawals by those participating in Doha. 'We have to strike a balance between the international and the sporting calendar in India. We usually like to start after the IPL (Indian Premier League) because that is when the excitement is maximum. It also helps with our promotions, as viewership is at its peak. Keeping the international calendar in mind, we don't want to clash with major events. It affects participation from both Indian and overseas players.' Previous Winners 2017 – Falcons TTC 2018 – Dabang Smashers TTC 2019 – Chennai Lions 2023 – Goa Challengers 2024 – Goa Challengers (No seasons were held between 2020 and 2022 due to COVID-19.) First-ever auction After operating under a draft system for the first five seasons, the league held its first-ever auction on April 15 in Mumbai, where each of the eight teams had a notional purse of Rs. 50 lakh. Harmeet Desai and Sreeja Akula were retained by Dempo Goa Challengers and Jaipur Patriots, respectively, via the Right to Match card. Ahmedabad SG Pipers signed Manika Batra after PBG Pune Jaguars released the star paddler. However, Manika has since withdrawn due to an injury. She will be replaced by Ayhika Mukherjee. Fan Siqi, the only Chinese participant, emerged as the most valued player at Rs. 19.70 lakh. However, this value is not the actual amount paid. Each player has been contracted by UTT for an undisclosed fee. 'It (the auction) is just to create more excitement. It introduces more variables and provides strategic options, opening up many avenues.' Although there will be no top 10 player for the fifth consecutive season, Indian athletes will have the chance to compete with and against several established international stars, such as Romania's Bernadette Szocs (World No. 13), Puerto Rico's Adriana Diaz (World No. 17) and Nigeria's Quadri Aruna (World No. 25). Szocs became the first Romanian woman since Otilia Badescu in 1993 to win a medal at the World Championships in Doha where she and Austria's Sofia Polcanova grabbed a bronze. Bernadette Szocs in action. | Photo Credit: M. Vedhan. New additions Apart from a new host city, this edition has several other additions. A new franchise, Kolkata Thunder Blades — co-owned by Uneecops and Mvikas — replaces Bengaluru Smashers. The Puneri Paltan has also rebranded itself as PBG Pune Jaguars. An Under-15 event titled Dream UTT Juniors will run alongside the main tournament. Targeting organic growth in attendance Since the league began in 2017, India has won 15 medals at the Commonwealth Games, three at the Asian Games, and seven at the Asian Championships. Indian players such as Manika, Harmeet, Sreeja, Manav Thakkar, Manush Shah, G. Sathiyan, Ayhika, Sutirtha Mukherjee and Diya Chitale have benefitted from competing in UTT against high-quality international opponents. The presence of such players can only inspire and benefit the next generation of Indian talent. However, Achanta Sharath Kamal (above) — India's most decorated paddler and a key figure in the country's global success in the sport — retired after the WTT Star Contender in March and will not feature as a player in UTT 6. Also, two of Gujarat's finest players, Manav and Manush, will miss this season due to commitments in other foreign leagues. 'There are many rules across multiple leagues around the world that state that if someone is playing in one league, they cannot play in another. There will inevitably be some clash somewhere. Sometimes, we don't have a choice and will miss out on some good talent. But this also creates opportunities for younger and promising players. Our junior players will also be introduced to and gain exposure through the league,' said Dani. While the single-city editions of 2019 (Delhi) and 2023 (Pune) had better turnout, the previous season in Chennai recorded an average footfall of just 600 per match, despite home favourites Sharath and Sathiyan in action. Hat-trick on the cards: Goa Challengers defended its title in the previous edition, led by stellar performances by the likes of Harmeet Desai. | Photo Credit: R. Ragu Dani emphasised that the focus is on organic audience growth: 'We want people to come for the sport itself. For that, we need to take the game to the people. That's why we have been to different venues. In some places, you feel only 700 people have come because the venues are larger-than-life. We want the right audience — those who attend because they genuinely want to.' What's the format? The eight teams have been split equally into two groups. Each team will face the other three teams in its group, as well as two sides from the opposite group. For example, if Group A has teams 1, 3, 5, 7 and Group B has teams 2, 4, 6, 8, then: Team 2 plays Team 1 and Team 3 Team 4 plays Team 1 and Team 3 Team 6 plays Team 5 and Team 7 Team 8 plays Team 5 and Team 7 Each tie comprises two men's singles, two women's singles, and one mixed doubles match. Every match includes three games. Unlike international rules requiring a two-point lead to win a game, UTT uses a Golden Point to decide games tied at 10–10. The team that wins eight games in total wins the tie. The top four teams will advance to the knockout stage. SQUADS Dempo Goa Challengers Zeng Jian, Harmeet Desai, Tiago Apolonia, Ronit Bhanja, Krittwika Sinha Roy, Sayali Wani Chennai Lions Kiril Gerassimenko, Payas Jain, Sudhanshu Grover, Fan Siqi, Nikhat Banu, Jennifer Varghese Dabang Delhi TTC Diya Chitale, Maria Xiao, G. Sathiyan, Quek Izaac, Suhana Saini, Sourav Saha PBG Pune Jaguars Alvaro Robles, Anirban Ghosh, Mudit Dani, Dina Meshref, Reeth Rishya, Taneesha Kotecha U Mumba TT Lilian Bardet, Akash Pal, P.B. Abhinandh, Bernadette Szocs, Yashaswini Ghorpade, Swastika Ghosh Kolkata Thunder Blades Quadri Aruna, Ankur Bhattacharjee, Deepit Patil, Adriana Diaz, Selena Selvakumar, Ananya Chande Jaipur Patriots Britt Eerland, Kanak Jha, Sreeja Akula, Jeet Chandra, Pritha Vartikar, Yashansh Malik Ahmedabad SG Pipers Ayhika Mukherjee, Ricardo Walther, SFR Snehit, Giorgia Piccolin, Divyansh Srivastava, Yashini Sivashankar Note: The story has been updated to reflect news of Manika Batra's injury. More stories from this issue
