‘UTT will be beneficial for India’
Leading Indian women paddlers, Madhurika Patkar and Manika Batra, believe that the Ultimate Table Tennis league, whose inaugural edition is to be held next month, will help the sport grow and benefit players.
“UTT will benefit the sport in India. I will be staying with foreign players (during the tournament). When we stay together, we benefit in terms of confidence mentally, among other things,” former national champion Madhurika said.
Madhurika, who is currently ranked number 3 in the country and will represent Dabang Smashers in the League, said she was not specifically preparing for UTT but was focusing on next year’s Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.
“Honestly speaking we don’t prepare for a particular tournament at this point. We as a (national) team are preparing for the next year’s Commonwealth Games in Australia.”
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Anthony Amalraj are Madhurika’s Indian teammates in the upcoming league.
Madhurika pointed out that the emergence of leagues in India has benefited that particular sport, be it the Indian Premier League for cricket or the Indian Super League for football, through their live telecasts.
Echoing her views, Batra, who represented India in the 2016 Rio Olympics, noted that the UTT was a great opportunity for all young players to play with and against good ranked players.
“This league will help a lot of players in India and table tennis will also be benefited. It is a good opportunity for players,” said Batra, who will play for the Oilmax Stag Yoddhas, in the league.
The India junior no. 1 said she was excited to play with higherranked foreign players.
“It (UTT) is a good preparation for next year’s Commonwealth Games. When we play with these foreign players, we will get to know each other and how they play and it will help us.”
It (UTT) is a good preparation for next year’s Commonwealth Games MANIKA BATRA TT PLAYER