Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) 2024 in Chennai: Schedule, teams, format, live TV, streaming, and more

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 (August 22) and run for the next 17 days, finishing with the final on September 7.

Here is a complete guide to 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.

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: S Rangarajan – Chairman & MD of Data Patterns, Rekha Murthy Rangarajan – Director of Data Patterns, GS Ravi, Chief Mentor, LiteMed, & 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

Dabang Delhi TTC

Owners: DOIT Sports Management

Coaches: Vesna Ojstersek (Foreign Coach) and Sachin Shetty (Indian Coach)

Players: Sathiyan G, Orawan Paranang (Thailand), Diya Chitale, Andreas Levenko (Austria), Yashansh Malik, Lakshita Narang

Athlead Goa Challengers (Defending champions)

Owners: Shrinivas Dempo, Chairman of the Dempo Group from Goa, and Vivek Bhargava, Co-Founder – ProfitWheel

Coaches: Zoltan Batorfi (Foreign Coach) and Subhajit Saha (Indian Coach)

Players: Harmeet Desai, Yangzi Liu (Australia), Yashaswini Ghorpade, Sudhanshu Grover, Sayali Wani, Mihai Bobocica (Italy)

Jaipur Patriots

Owners: World of Krida Pvt. Ltd.

Coaches: Ronald Redep (Foreign Coach) and Somnath Ghosh (Indian Coach)

Players: Cho Seungmin (South Korea), Suthasini Sawettabut (Thailand), Snehit SFR, Ronit Bhanja, Moumita Dutta, Nithyashree Mani

Puneri Paltan Table Tennis

Owners: InsureKot Sports Pvt. Ltd

Coaches: Jorg Bitzigeio (Foreign Coach) and Parag Agarwal (Indian Coach)

Players: Ayhika Mukherjee, Natalia Bajor (Poland), Joao Monteiro (Portugal), Ankur Bhattacharjee, Anirban Ghosh, Yashini Sivashankar

U Mumba TT

Owners: Unilazer Ventures Pvt. Ltd

Coaches: John Murphy (Foreign Coach) and Anshul Garg (Indian Coach)

Players: Manav Thakkar, Sutirtha Mukherjee, Aruna Quadri (Nigeria), Akash Pal, Kavyasree Baskar, Maria Xiao (Spain)

Past winners of UTT

2017: Falcons TTC (Defunct)

2018: Dabang Delhi TTC

2019: Chennai Lions

2023: Goa Challengers

UTT 2024 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.

UTT 2024 full schedule

22nd August, 19:30 – Athlead Goa Challengers vs Jaipur Patriots

23rd August, 17:00 – Puneri Paltan TT vs Ahmedabad SG Pipers

23rd August, 19:30 – Chennai Lions vs PBG Bengaluru Smashers

24th August, 17:00 – Dabang Delhi TTC vs U Mumba TT

24th August, 19:30 – Athlead Goa Challengers vs Ahmedabad SG Pipers

25th August, 17:00 – Chennai Lions vs Dabang Delhi TTC

25th August, 19:30 – U Mumba TT vs Jaipur Patriots

26th August, 19:30 – PBG Bengaluru Smashers vs Puneri Paltan TT

27th August, 19:30 – U Mumba TT vs Ahmedabad SG Pipers

28th August, 19:30 – Dabang Delhi TTC vs Athlead Goa Challengers

29th August, 19:30 – PBG Bengaluru Smashers vs Jaipur Patriots

30th August, 17:00 – Chennai Lions vs U Mumba TT

30th August, 19:30 – Dabang Delhi TTC vs Puneri Paltan TT

31st August, 17:00 – PBG Bengaluru Smashers vs Ahmedabad SG Pipers

31st August, 19:30 – Chennai Lions vs Athlead Goa Challengers

1st September, 17:00 – Puneri Paltan TT vs Jaipur Patriots

1st September, 19:30 – Dabang Delhi TTC vs PBG Bengaluru Smashers

2nd September, 19:30 – U Mumba TT vs Athlead Goa Challengers

3rd September, 19:30 – Chennai Lions vs Puneri Paltan TT

4th September, 19:30 – Jaipur Patriots vs Ahmedabad SG Pipers

5th September, 19:30 – Semi-Final 1

6th September, 19:30 – Semi-Final 2

7th September, 19:30 – Final

Where to watch UTT 2024

Broadcast: Sports18 Khel

Online streaming: JioCinema (India); Facebook Live (Outside India)

Where to buy tickets

Online: BookMyShow

Offline: Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, Chennai, near Gate no. 1, from 10 am to 6 pm for the league’s duration.