UP Prometheans made full use of their purse, bringing together India’s Manav Thakkar, one of the world’s leading doubles players, and two-time league MVP Yangzi Liu in a standout combination at the UTT Season 7 auction on Tuesday.
Reigning champion Bernadette Szocs emerged as the highest-valued player at 40 L tokens, joining two-time winners Dempo Goa Challengers, while Diya Chitale was the highest-valued Indian for the second consecutive year, moving to PBG Pune Jaguars for 37.4 L tokens.
Chitale’s international doubles partner, Manush Shah, was picked up by U Mumba TT for 37.2 L tokens, bolstering their line-up alongside the retained Akash Pal.
Fifteen-year-old Divyanshi Bhowmick became the youngest-ever player to be signed by a UTT team, earning a spot with Sathiyan Gnanasekaran-led Dabang Delhi TTC, while Syndrela Das, 16, was secured by Dempo Goa Challengers.
The franchise-based league, co-promoted by Niraj Bajaj and Vita Dani under the aegis of the Table Tennis Federation of India, will take place from July 9 to 26 at the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium in Goa. It’ll be live-streamed on JioHotstar and broadcast live on the Star Sports Network.
Reigning champions U Mumba TT held back early before striking late, bringing in India’s history-maker Manush Shah, reuniting with Lilian Bardet, and adding Wales’ Anna Hursey to round out their squad.
Having opted not to retain anyone, PBG Pune Jaguars went big for Chitale and paired her with the seasoned Snehit SFR and France’s Prithika Pavade. Mudit Dani, Omar Assar, and Sayanika Maji completed the roster.
Two-time champions Dempo Goa Challengers’ auction strategy saw them go for experience in their foreign spots–with Spaniard and Butterfly UTT regular Alvaro Robles returning to the team where he won the title in 2023–and filling their Indian spots with the best emerging talents.
Season 2 champions Dabang Delhi TTC brought back Maria Xiao, rekindling a strong doubles pairing with Sathiyan. They also added Bhowmick, Asian Games medalist Sutirtha Mukherjee, Youssef Abdelaziz, and Raegan Albuquerque to complete their lineup.
German ace Ricardo Walther, India’s Sudhanshu Grover, and youngsters Swastika Ghosh and Sayali Wani complemented Thakkar and Liu during UP’s first outing at the auction table.
Joining Kolkata Thunder Blades at the auction table, rising Indian star Ankur Bhattacharjee–retained by the team–brought a composed presence, offering key inputs as the team built a well-rounded unit featuring Ayhika Mukherjee, Eduard Ionescu, Taneesha Kotecha, Jeet Chandra, and Zeng Jian.
“Eduard is a good mixed doubles player. I am comfortable playing with both (Ayhika and Taneesha), and so I gave my suggestions to the team,” Ankur said.
Ahmedabad APL Pipers’ big move came ahead of the auction, when the franchise opted to retain Indian great Manika Batra.
UTT Season 7 will feature seven teams competing in a single round-robin format, where each team will face every other team once in the league phase. The top four teams will progress to the knockout stage.
UTT Season 7 – Top Buys
1. Bernadette Szocs (Romania) to Dempo Goa Challengers: 40 L tokens
2. Diya Chitale (India) to PBG Pune Jaguars: 37.4 L tokens
3. Manush Shah (India) to U Mumba TT: 37.2 L tokens
4. Manav Thakkar (India) to UP Prometheans: 36 L tokens
5. Yangzi Liu (Australia) to UP Prometheans: 32 L tokens
UTT Season 7 – Full Squads
Ahmedabad APL Pipers: Manika Batra, Adrien Rassenfosse (Belgium), Kavya Bhatt, Sanil Shetty, Sofia Polcanova (Austria), Clown Jain
Dabang Delhi TTC: Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Divyanshi Bhowmick, Maria Xiao (Spain), Youssef Abdelaziz (Egypt), Raegan Albuquerque, Sutirtha Mukherjee
Dempo Goa Challengers: Bernadette Szocs (Romania), Syndrela Das, Alvaro Robles (Spain), Divyansh Srivastava, Ananya Chande, Abhinandh PB
Kolkata Thunder Blades: Ankur Bhattacharjee, Ayhika Mukherjee, Eduard Ionescu (Romania), Taneesha Kotecha, Zeng Jian (Singapore), Jeet Chandra
PBG Pune Jaguars: Diya Chitale, Prithika Pavade (France), Snehit SFR, Mudit Dani, Omar Assar (Egypt), Sayanika Maji
The TT Family: Manush Shah, Akash Pal, Lilian Bardet (France), Anna Hursey (Wales), Nityashree Mani, Anusha Kutumbale
UP Prometheans: Manav Thakkar, Yangzi Liu (Australia), Ricardo Walther (Germany), Sayali Wani, Sudhanshu Grover, Swastika Ghosh
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