Elite Coaches Shape Teams for Ultimate Table Tennis 2023

Four-time Olympian Elena Timina will guide the Bengaluru Smashers in the new season of Ultimate Table Tennis. The draft saw eight franchises selecting both foreign and Indian coaches, with notable appointments like Francisco Santos for Ahmedabad SG Pipers and John Murphy for U Mumba TT. The season starts in Chennai on August 22.

Four-time Olympian Elena Timina, who led Goa Challengers to victory last season, will be at the helm of the Bengaluru Smashers in the upcoming Ultimate Table Tennis edition.

In a significant draft event on Monday, each of the eight franchises picked both foreign and Indian coaches. The Ahmedabad SG Pipers chose experienced Francisco Santos for his fifth UTT participation, while Dabang Delhi TTC and Jaipur Patriots selected Indian coaches Sachin Shetty and Somnath Ghosh, respectively.

This season will also see debutant Indian coaches: Jay Modak with Ahmedabad SG Pipers, Anshuman Roy with Bengaluru Smashers, former national champion Subhajit Saha with Goa Challengers, and Subin Kumar with Chennai Lions.

Dabang Delhi TTC reassembled the successful Shetty-Slovenian Vesna Ojstersek combo, aiming to surpass their 2019 runner-up finish.

In other notable appointments, U Mumba picked John Murphy, England's current head coach, while retaining Anshul Garg, and Goa Challengers chose Hungarian women’s coach Zoltan Bartofi. The Chennai Lions will be guided by Tobias Bergman, Swedish national team head coach.

The league, expanded to eight teams, is set to be played in Chennai from August 22 to September 7.