(by Steve Hopkins, photo UTT)
India’s Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) league is in its sixth season. This year they will run their full season over about three weeks. The matches are played with a similar structure to USA’s Major League Table Tennis except that the Indian teams are more evenly split between male and female. The first set in each match is between the two top men, then a match between the top women, then a mixed doubles match, then a match between the second position men, and then a match between the second position women.
USA’s top player, Kanak Jha is playing this season for the Jaipur Patriots. He is playing the featured male position, taking on the other team’s top player, and he is playing the key mixed doubles match. Jha’s teammates are Sreeja Akula as the top female (who is also his mixed doubles partner), Jeet Chandra as the second position male, and Britt Eerland playing in the second female position.
The Patriots have now played four matches and have won three. Like his team, Jha has also come out on top three out of his four times playing. He was 1-2 in his first match of the season with Singapore’s Quek Izaac on a loaded Dabang Delhi squad that not only has Singapore’s best player but also Sathiayan Gnanasekaran, one of the strongest players on the Subcontinent playing the team’s second position. Dabang Delhi won that match 11-4.
Since that first loss of the season on May 31st, the Patriots have been on a run. They defeated the Chennai Lions 9-6 with Jha defeating Kirill Gerassimenko 3-0. The defeated U Mumba TT in a tight 8-7 match with Jha edging out Lilian Bardet of France 2-1 to give his team the early lead. Next they defeated the Ahmedabad SG Pipers 11-4, with Jha again winning his match 3-0, this time topping Divyansh Srivastava.
The Patriots will next face the PBG Pune Jaguars who have Alvaro Robles of Spain. And they still have the Kolkata Thunder Blades coming up, who have Quadri Aruna of Nigeria. Both should be exciting matches for Kanak Jha as he and his team
At 3-1, the Jaipur Patriots are among the leaders. Dabang Delhi is undefeated at 3-0, and both Dempo Goa and Pune Jaguars are 2-1 and within striking distance of the lead as well. For more updates on UTT Season 6, visit Ultimate Table Tennis.
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