UTT will have spiraling effect and lead to overall improvement, says Kamlesh Mehta

06/17/2018

Former national champion Kamlesh Mehta has insisted that table tennis in India is on the right track and Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) would lead to the overall development of the game in the country. Mehta also stated that the league would be a great learning experience for upcoming paddlers.

Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) has been the first-ever professional league for table tennis in India, which has been slated to kick off in Chennai on 13 July. It has been a great platform for the budding paddlers to showcase their skills against tougher opponents. The league has 24 Indian players who are divided into 6 teams and compete against world-class opponents.

Kamlesh Mehta insisted that the league would benefit the country's players. He sounded upbeat about the tournament and said it could be a great learning experience for the upcoming paddlers and stated that the tournament would improve the game in the country in a huge way.

"It is very exciting. What was a dream is about to become a reality. It is a dream come true," he told PTI about the league, which has been in the making for a few years now. “It is going to benefit the game of table tennis. When it benefits the game, it is going to benefit everybody, it is going to benefit state associations, players, coaches, academies.

"Young players will gain a lot. There are 24 Indian players and six coaches. Their standard is going to go up. When you see top-level matches live or at close quarters, it is very inspiring. The youngsters can learn several good things. It will have a spiraling effect and lead to overall improvement."

He said Tamil Nadu was always a strong state when it came to table tennis and has been producing quality players over the years, who had gone on to play at the highest level.

"TN is one of the strong states. There is a huge legacy and talent pool. You had players like Thiruvengadam, G Jagannath, V Chandrasekar, Niyati... Now, we have A Sharath Kamal, A Amalraj, G Sathiyan and others. It is good to see new names coming up," he said.

Indian table tennis players have been doing increasingly well in the recent past. Mehta pointed out that there has been an improvement in the ranking of the players and the country has been doing well at the international level.

"The players' rankings have gone up. There are seven to eight players in the top 100. The future looks very bright," he added.

Meanwhile, players expressed their happiness to be part of UTT. Sharath Kamal said it was a good concept and would be a good exposure for the young players.

"The young Indian players can learn a lot from the foreign stars, especially by playing with them. It is going to stand them in good stead," he said.

Portugal's Marcos Freitas, ranked 14 globally and one of the top-ranked men's players to feature in the event, said, "It is a new concept but looks interesting. It is good that new things are being tried out in TT."

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