Pune, July 17 (IANS): Having lost their respective first matches, the star-studded Bengaluru Smashers and Dabang Delhi TTC will look to register their first victory in the ongoing Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) Season 4 at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex here on Tuesday.
Bengaluru Smashers suffered defeat against U Mumba TT in their opening tie of Season 4 while former champions Dabang Delhi TTC lost to Goa Challengers.
The franchise-based league, promoted by Niraj Bajaj and Vita Dani under the auspices of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI), has been a game-changer for Indian table tennis since its inception in 2017.
Bengaluru Smasher is spearheaded by Indian star Manika Batra, whereas Kirill Gerassimenko and Natalia Bajor bring international experience into the squad. Sanil Shetty will also look to improve his performance in the upcoming tie.
"There are a lot of new faces in our franchise in Season 4 and it has been a thrilling experience to play with them so far. All of the members of the squad are really talented. Bengaluru Smashers will give their best in every tie including the next one against Dabang Delhi TTC," commented Batra ahead of the tie.
On the other hand, Dabang Delhi TTC has experienced campaigner Sathiyan Gnanasekaran in the squad, while Sreeja Akula and Ayhika Mukherjee aim to bring their A-game to the table.
Akula said, "Our franchise played well in the last tie despite the defeat against Goa Challengers. It was our first tie in Season 4, so, we will look to do better in the next tie against Bengaluru Smashers. We will work on our mistakes and improve in Tuesday's upcoming tie."
Barbora Balazova and Jon Persson bring international flavour to the franchise.
Squads:
Bengaluru Smashers: Manika Batra, Kirill Gerassimenko, Sanil Shetty, Natalia Bajor, Poymantee Baisya and Jeet Chandra.
Coaches: Sachin Shetty, Vesna Ojstersek
Dabang Delhi TTC: Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Sreeja Akula, Barbora Balazova, Ayhika Mukherjee, Anirban Ghosh and Jon Persson.
Coaches: Slobodan Grujic, A. Muralidhara Rao.