Chennai, Aug 31 (IANS): Relegated to the bottom of the Ultimate Table Tennis 2024 table, Puneri Paltan Table Tennis will have their task cut out when they take on debutants Jaipur Patriots in the first match of Sunday’s double header at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Indoor Stadium in Chennai.
Later in the evening, Dabang Delhi TTC will look to consolidate their stay at the top when they face second-placed PBG Bengaluru Smashers in their final league match of the season.
Having suffered a 4-11 defeat at the hands of Dabang Delhi TTC in their previous tie on Friday, Puneri Paltan Table Tennis will have to punch above their weight to stay in the hunt, and so does the Jaipur Patriots, currently placed at penultimate seventh spot. Both teams have 19 points from three ties each.
On the other hand, Dabang Delhi TTC, the only side in UTT to have reached the knockouts across all the editions so far, will look to extend their winning momentum and continue the trend when they meet the PBG Bengaluru Smashers, comfortably placed second on the table with 32 points from three ties. The Delhi outfit has 33 points from their four ties.
The contest between Puneri Paltan Table Tennis and Jaipur Patriots promises plenty of potential mouth-watering clashes, with a possible face-off between teenage sensation Ankur Bhattercharya and Cho Seung-min, the first South Korean player in the tournament. A lot will ride on the shoulders of giant killer Ayhika Mukherjee for the Pune outfit.
The second tie of the evening between Dabang Delhi TTC and PBG Bengaluru Smashers will potentially attract a lot of attention when Thailand’s Orawan Paranang squares off against World No. 25 Manika Batra. The potential face-off between Sathiyan G and Spanish paddler Alvaro Robles also promises an exciting affair on the cards.
Squads:
Puneri Paltan Table Tennis vs Jaipur Patriots
Puneri Paltan Table Tennis: Ayhika Mukherjee, Natalia Bajor (Poland), Joao Monteiro (Portugal), Ankur Bhattacharjee, Anirban Ghosh, Yashini Sivashankar
Jaipur Patriots: Cho Seungmin (South Korea), Suthasini Sawettabut (Thailand), Snehit SFR, Ronit Bhanja, Moumita Dutta, Nithyashree Mani
Dabang Delhi TTC vs PBG Bengaluru Smashers
Dabang Delhi TTC: Sathiyan G, Orawan Paranang (Thailand), Diya Chitale, Andreas Levenko (Austria), Yashansh Malik, Lakshita Narang
PBG Bengaluru Smashers: Manika Batra, Alvaro Robles (Spain), Lily Zhang (USA), Jeet Chandra, Taneesha Kotecha, Amalraj Anthony