UTT 2024: G Sathiyan in action© UTT
Both Dabang Delhi TTC and Athlead Goa Challengers will have a point to prove when they meet for the first time in 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.
The franchise-based league is promoted by Niraj Bajaj and Vita Dani under the auspices of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI). All the thrilling ties are being aired on Sports18 Khel on TV and streaming live on JioCinema in India and Facebook Live outside India. Tickets are available online through BookMyShow and offline at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium box office near Gate no. 1.
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 UTT 2024 and will look to prolong that run in a potential clash against Dabang Delhi TTC's Orawan Paranang.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a press release)