India’s emerging talent Sreeja Akula, Romania’s top 10 player Bernadette Szocs, Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri, and Germany’s Nina Mittelham are some of the notable names in the lineup for the Ultimate Table Tennis 2024 draft scheduled for July 10.
A total of 47 players will participate in the draft, including eight international male and female players, with 43 of them being selected by the teams.
Indian stars Sharath Kamal, Manika Batra, Harmeet Desai, Manav Thakkar, and G Sathiyan, who are bound for the Paris Olympics, have already been retained by their respective franchises.
Among the Indian players, Sreeja Akula, ranked 24th in the world and winner of the WTT Contender singles title, is expected to attract attention.
Bernadette Szocs will be making her third appearance, while Aruna Quadri, ranked 16th, will be participating for the fourth time. Nina Mittelham will be making her debut in the upcoming season.
Sharath Kamal will continue to represent Chennai Lions, while G Sathiyan will once again play for Dabang Delhi TTC.
.Bernadette Szocs
Desai is set to continue representing Goa Challengers, while Thakkar will be playing for U Mumba TT. Manika has been confirmed to join Bengaluru Smashers.
With Puneri Paltan not holding onto any players, they will participate in the initial round of the draft alongside new teams Jaipur Patriots and Ahmedabad SG Pipers.
According to a statement from the organizers, all eight teams will be involved from the second round to select a six-member squad, which must include one foreign male and female player, as well as two Indian male and female players.
Other Indian players in the draft will include Asian Games doubles bronze medalists Ayhika Mukherjee and Sutirtha Mukherjee, Yashaswini Ghorpade, Diya Chitale, Poymantee Baisya, and Taneesha Kotecha among the women.
Snehit SFR, Jeet Chandra, Manush Shah, and Yashansh Malik are the other male players in the draft.
The draft also includes foreign players such as Jules Rolland and Lilian Bardet of France, Joao Monteiro of Portugal, Alvaro Robles of Spain, and Cho Seungmin of South Korea in the men's category.
For the women players, Suthasini Sawettabut, Sakura Mori, Lily Zhang, and Orawan Paranang will be part of the draft.
This year, there will be two groups of four teams in the competition. Each team will play five matches during the league stage, competing against all other teams in their group once, as well as two randomly chosen teams from the other group, which will be selected through a draw.
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