Chennai, Aug 27 (IANS): Both Dabang Delhi TTC and Athlead Goa Challengers will have a point to prove when they meet for the first time in the Ultimate Table Tennis 2024 at Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium on Wednesday.

Led by Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, the team from Delhi has lost both its ties so far. However, the low margins of their defeats mean Dabang Delhi TTC are one heavy win away from jumping from their current spot in seventh to one reserved for the playoffs.

Harmeet Desai’s Athlead Goa Challengers, on the other hand, are heading into their tie against Dabang Delhi TTC on the back of a heavy defeat against Ahmedabad SG Pipers; they will be looking to make amends quickly and prove their mettle as the reigning champions.

Sathiyan’s potential bout with Harmeet will headline the clash between Dabang Delhi TTC and Athlead Goa Challengers. The pair are two of India’s finest paddlers and have an Olympic appearance each to their name.

Further down the pecking order, Dabang Delhi TTC’s Diya Chitale will be under the spotlight following her impressive win against Poymantee Baisya of Chennai Lions. She will likely square up against Athlead Goa Challengers’ young prodigy looking to make her mark this season: Yashaswini Ghorpade.

From the teams’ foreign contingent, all eyes will be on Athlead Goa Challengers’ Yangzi Liu and her sensational unbeaten streak that has not left her company since the start of the previous season. Liu has won both her singles matches in the UTT 2024 and will look to prolong that run in a potential clash against Dabang Delhi TTC’s Orawan Paranang.

Squads

Dabang Delhi TTC: Sathiyan G, Orawan Paranang (Thailand), Diya Chitale, Andreas Levenko (Austria), Yashansh Malik, Lakshita Narang.

Athlead Goa Challengers: Harmeet Desai, Yangzi Liu (Australia), Yashaswini Ghorpade, Mihai Bobocica (Italy), Sudhanshu Grover, Sayali Wani.