Ultimate Table Tennis: U Mumba TT set to take season four by storm

Published at :July 9, 2023 at 2:08 AM

Modified at :July 14, 2023 at 9:43 PM

The Mumbai-based franchise have a solid squad with some fresh talents coming in.

The resurgence of Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) Season 4 will witness six teams competing for the title in July 2023. U Mumba TT's first foray into UTT came in Season 3 and after narrowly missing out on the Grand Finale in their debut season, the team is gearing up with a new set of global and Indian stars to take to the tables at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Balewadi, Pune.

The team of six players comprises a mix of youth and experience and an added motivation with recent news of two Indian table tennis stars Diya Chitale and Manav Thakkar, who was retained by the squad, being selected for Team India at the upcoming Asian Games.

Star-studded roster

They will join the highest-ranked Men's and Women's players in the league, Aruna Quadri (Nigeria) and Lily Zhang (America) and the experienced Mouma Das (Kolkata) and Sudhanshu Grover (Delhi) as U Mumba TT look carry on the form of sister Franchise upGrad Mumba Masters, who went on to finish Runners-Up in the inaugural Global Chess League last month.

This talent carries the confidence to win the hearts of fans and win the championship this year and will be led by Indian Coach Anshul Garg and International Coach Francisco Santos from Portugal.

· Manav Thakkar – Former World No.1 in U-18 and U-21 ITTF rankings

· Diya Chitale – Doubles National Champion won Gold in National Ranking Tournament 2022

· Lily Zhang – In 2011, Pan American Games (Bronze – Singles) & Qatar Peace and Sport Cup (Winner – Doubles), Participated in 2012 Rio Olympics· Quadri Aruna Silver medallist in the 2018 Commonwealth Games; Finalist in 2015, 2019 African Games· Mouma Das –Silver at 2018 Commonwealth Games; Gold in the South Asian Games 2006, 2010 and 2016; Multiple medallist in the National Championships (Doubles and Singles)

· Sudhanshu Grover - 7 Times National Champion Double

U Mumba TT Schedule

Tie	Date	Team	Venue	Times
Tie 1	Friday, 14th July 2023	U Mumba TT VSBengaluru Smashers	Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex: Balewadi, Pune	7:30 pm onwards
Tie 2	Sunday, 16th July 2023	U Mumba TTVSChennai Lions	Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex: Balewadi, Pune	7:30 pm onwards
Tie 3	Wednesday. 19th July 2023	U Mumba TTVSGoa Challengers	Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex: Balewadi, Pune	7:30 pm onwards
Tie 4	Monday,24th July 2023	U Mumba TTVSDabang Delhi TTC	Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex: Balewadi, Pune	7:30 pm onwards
Tie 5	Thursday, 27th July 2023	U Mumba TTVSPuneri Paltan	Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex: Balewadi, Pune	7:30 pm onwards

U Mumba TT will be playing their first tie against Bengaluru Smashers on 14th July. The team will be playing a total of five ties in UTT through the league phase. U Mumba TT is owned by Unilazer Ventures Pvt. Ltd. – a company founded by Ronnie Screwvala who is a philanthropist and movie producer. Suhail Chandhok, a sports broadcaster and entrepreneur recently joined the team as their CEO.

They own the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) franchise U Mumba, who have featured in three consecutive finals and won the Season 2 title. Recently in Dubai, U Mumba was a part of the inaugural Global Chess League where the upGrad Mumba Masters finished Runners-Up in a thrilling final.