UP Prometheans and PBG Pune Jaguars will both be eager to open their account when they meet in the first tie of Matchday 4 of Butterfly Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) Season 7 on Sunday. Later in the evening, two-time champions Dempo Goa Challengers will look to build on their emphatic opening-night victory when they take on Ahmedabad APL Pipers, who return for their second tie of the campaign.
Staged under the aegis of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) and promoted by Niraj Bajaj and Vita Dani, Butterfly UTT continues to strengthen Indian table tennis through elite competition and year-round development initiatives. Season 7 brings together 42 players from across the globe, including 14 Olympians, alongside the parallel Dream UTT Juniors competition that continues to expand the league’s grassroots pathway.
The first tie pits together two evenly matched sides looking to gather early momentum. UP Prometheans will once again look to India’s highest-ranked men’s singles player Manav Thakkar, who impressed with a victory over Youssef Abdelaziz in his first match of the season, while Sayali Wani underlined her growing reputation by edging teenage sensation Divyanshi Bhowmick in the women’s singles. With two-time Butterfly UTT MVP Yangzi Liu and former German national champion Ricardo Walther also in their ranks, UP possess one of the league’s strongest international combinations and will look to bounce back quickly from their opening setback.
PBG Pune Jaguars, meanwhile, pushed HVR Kolkata ThunderBlades to the limit in one of the closest ties of the season. Snehit SFR remained unbeaten across his men’s singles and mixed doubles, while Egypt’s Omar Assar and India’s Diya Chitale both showed encouraging signs on their Butterfly UTT bows for the franchise. With both teams still searching for their first victory, every match could prove decisive.
The evening contest sees Manika Batra continue her Butterfly UTT comeback as Ahmedabad APL Pipers return for their second tie in as many days, against a scintillating Dempo Goa Challengers outfit. Alongside Austria’s Sofia Polcanova, Belgium’s Adrien Rassenfosse and rising youngster Payas Jain, Ahmedabad possess the quality to trouble any side.
Goa, however, arrive brimming with confidence after reigning MVP Bernadette Szocs and teenage sensation Abhinandh PB powered them to a commanding opening-night victory, with the experienced Alvaro Robles adding further depth to one of the competition’s most intriguing squads. A potential showdown between international doubles partners Szocs and Polcanova promises to be among the marquee individual contests of the evening, as Ahmedabad look to halt Goa’s early momentum.
TEAMS:
UP Prometheans: Manav Thakkar, Yangzi Liu (Australia), Ricardo Walther (Germany), Sayali Wani, Sudhanshu Grover, Swastika Ghosh
PBG Pune Jaguars: Diya Chitale, Prithika Pavade (France), Snehit SFR, Omar Assar (Egypt), Mudit Dani, Sayanika Maji
Ahmedabad APL Pipers: Manika Batra, Sofia Polcanova (Austria), Adrien Rassenfosse (Belgium), Sanil Shetty, Kavya Bhatt, Payas Jain
Dempo Goa Challengers: Bernadette Szocs (Romania), Alvaro Robles (Spain), Abhinandh PB, Syndrela Das, Divyansh Srivastava, Ananya Chande
SUNDAY’S FIXTURES:
UP Prometheans vs PBG Pune Jaguars, Ahmedabad APL Pipers vs Dempo Goa Challengers; 5PM onwards.
