Ultimate Table Tennis: India's first ever professional league for the sport to start from mid-July

New Delhi: Some of the world’s biggest table tennis stars will descend on Indian soil for the much-awaited Ultimate Table Tennis(UTT) — the country’s first ever professional table tennis league which will be held in Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai starting 13 July.

Among the 24 men and women foreign players are World No. 7 Wong Chun Ting of Hong Kong who was also last year’s bronze medallist in the men’s World Cup.

At the Liebherr 2017 World Table Tennis Championships in Duesseldorf, Germany, Wong Ting reached quarterfinals in men’s singles and won a bronze medal in mixed doubles alongside Doo Hoi Kem who is also a part of UTT.

Germany’s Petrissa Solja won a bronze for the host country in mixed doubles alongside Fang Bo from China. The last time a German won a mixed doubles medal was in 1971, making the victory extra special for Petrissa Solja who is ready for her new challenge at UTT.

World No. 9 in women’s ranking Han Ying of Germany will be the top billing in the inaugural edition that will begin in Chennai.

The table tennis extravaganza will comprise six franchisees and will be hosted in Chennai (13-20 July), New Delhi (21 to 26 July) with the final leg being held in Mumbai (27 to 30 July).

India’s Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra will lead the list of 12 men and 12 women from the country out of a strong pool of 48 players.

The Indian duo of Manika Batra and Mouma Das created history at Germany by becoming the first Indian pair to reach the quarterfinals of the World Table Tennis Championships.

Each team will have eight players — four men and four women — with an equal mix of overseas and Indian players, apart from a foreign and an Indian coach.