Ultimate Table Tennis 2024 New Format: All you need to know about format, rules of UTT season 5

Jaipur Patriots and Ahmedabad SG Pipers will make their debut at Ultimate Table Tennis 2024.

IndianOil Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) 2024 is back in its biggest season yet, with eight teams set to compete for the coveted crown at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai. The tournament will begin today and will run for the subsequent 17 days, finishing with the Final scheduled on September 7.

Promoted by Niraj Bajaj and Vita Dani under the auspices of the Table Tennis Federation of India, the tournament has been a game-changer for Indian table tennis since its inception in 2017 and as we gear up for the Table Tennis carnival, here is a complete guide to IndianOil UTT 2024.

What’s New:

Jaipur Patriots and Ahmedabad SG Pipers are set to make their debut this season, marking a significant milestone as the UTT expands its roster to eight teams for the first time since its inception.

This exciting growth means 48 talented players will be featured in the league, ensuring that the fifth edition of the UTT will be more competitive and thrilling than ever before. With fresh teams and global talent joining the fray, this season promises to elevate the excitement and level of play in Indian table tennis.

Among the 48 players featured, there are 16 international stars, several Olympians, multiple Asian Games and Commonwealth Games medallists, World Champions, and National Champions in both the Junior and Senior categories.

Format and Rules

Tournament Format

• The League Stage will see all eight teams split into two groups of four for fixture-assigning purposes. Each team will play five ties in the league stage: three teams in their group once and two random opponents from the adjacent quartet.
• Teams shall play all five matches and 15 games in a tie even if one team has secured the winning eight team points in a tie in the league stage. The team points won by winning each game by a team will be added to their overall tally; the teams’ rankings in the league table will be decided on the total team points won by each team in all league stage ties.
• After the completion of the scheduled league stage, there shall be a knock-out stage concluding in the Final to determine the eventual winner of UTT in that season. The top four teams from the league table in the season will qualify for the knock-out stage.
• The knock-out stage will comprise two semi-finals, wherein the first-placed team will play the fourth-placed team and the second-placed team will face the third-placed team.

Format of play

• Every team shall play five matches within a tie in this order – men’s singles, women’s singles, mixed doubles, men’s singles, and women’s singles.
• Each match shall comprise three games. As such, each tie shall comprise 15 Games.
• Each game shall have the players competing with each other to score 11 points first, meaning if scores are level at 10 each, then the 11th point will be a Golden Point and shall decide the winner. 
• The winning team in a tie shall be decided by the number of total games won, i.e., total team points won in the relevant tie. In the league stage, the team that wins eight or more games out of the 15 shall be termed as the winner of that respective tie, but the tie will continue until all 15 games and five matches are played. In the knockouts, the first team to win eight games shall be declared the winner, culminating the tie there and then.
• No player can play more than two matches in a tie, including mixed doubles. Furthermore, no player can play more than one singles match in a tie. However, the same player can play the mixed doubles.

Teams:

Ahmedabad SG Pipers

Owners: SG Sports and Entertainment Private Limited Coaches: Francisco Santos (Foreign Coach) and Jay Modak (Indian Coach) Players: Manush Shah, Bernadette Szocs (Romania), Lilian Bardet (France), Reeth Tennison, Pritha Vartikar, Jash Modi.

PBG Bengaluru Smashers

Owners: Punit Balan Coaches: Elena Timina (Foreign Coach) and Anshuman Roy (Indian Coach) Players: Manika Batra, Alvaro Robles (Spain), Lily Zhang (USA), Jeet Chandra, Taneesha Kotecha, Amalraj Anthony.

Chennai Lions

Owners: Mr. S Rangarajan – Chairman & MD of Data Patterns, Mrs. Rekha Murthy Rangarajan – Director of Data Patterns, Mr. GS Ravi, Chief Mentor, LiteMed, & Mr. Vinay Chandra, Principal with Deloitte Consulting LLP US Coaches: Tobias Bergman (Foreign Coach) and Subin Kumar (Indian Coach) Players: Achanta Sharath Kamal, Sakura Mori (Japan), Jules Rolland (France), Poymantee Baisya, Mouma Das, Abhinandh PB.

Full list of teams at UTT 2024 available here.

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