Ahmedabad, June 7 (IANS) Reigning champions Dempo Goa Challengers, led by Harmeet Desai, will be looking to go top of the table when they face Kolkata ThunderBlades in the Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) Season 6 on Sunday. Later, current table toppers Dabang Delhi TTC will take on PBG Pune Jaguars, aiming to prolong their unbeaten start to the season.

Second-placed Dempo Goa Challengers will aim to reclaim the top spot when they take on a dangerous but inconsistent Kolkata ThunderBlades. With Harmeet Desai and Zeng Jian unbeaten in singles—and finally clicking as a doubles pair—the defending champions look well-oiled and confident. Krittwika Sinha Roy, too, has been flawless in her two appearances. If Goa’s core keeps firing, they’ll be tough to stop.

But Kolkata won’t go down quietly. Ankur Bhattacharjee has carried over his form from his breakout season last year, winning all three of his singles rubbers. Veterans Aruna Quadri and Adriana Diaz have added two wins apiece, but the team will be looking for a breakthrough from their doubles and fourth-player slots to snap a two-tie losing streak.

Later, league leaders at the time of writing, Dabang Delhi TTC, will look to extend their unbeaten run against third-placed PBG Pune Jaguars. Delhi’s strength lies in their balance: Sathiyan and Maria Xiao are unbeaten as a duo, Diya Chitale has delivered under pressure, and rising star Izaac Quek has looked world-class, even in his narrow Golden Point loss to Ankur.

Pune, though, has plenty of firepower. Anirban Ghosh and Reeth Rishya have been quietly brilliant, with Reeth winning seven of nine games so far. New addition Zion Lee–who has replaced the injured Dina Meshref–will hope for a stronger outing after her debut, while Alvaro Robles will be hungry to flip the script after a string of tight losses.

Staged under the aegis of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) and promoted by Niraj Bajaj and Vita Dani, IndianOil UTT continues to grow as a premier professional league. All 23 ties, over 16 action-packed days, will take place at Ahmedabad’s EKA Arena.

Squads:

Tie 1:

Dempo Goa Challengers: Zeng Jian (Singapore), Harmeet Desai, Tiago Apolonia (Portugal), Ronit Bhanja, Krittwika Sinha Roy, Sayali Wani

Kolkata ThunderBlades: Adriana Diaz (Puerto Rico), Aruna Quadri (Nigeria), Ankur Bhattacharjee, Selena Selvakumar, Ananya Chande, Deepit Patil

Tie 2:

Dabang Delhi TTC: Diya Chitale, Maria Xiao (Spain), Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Quek Izaac (Singapore), Suhana Saini, Sourav Saha

PBG Pune Jaguars: Alvaro Robles (Spain), Zion Lee (South Korea), Taneesha Kotecha, Anirban Ghosh, Reeth Rishya, Mudit Dani

–IANS

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