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Mumbai, April 15 ( IANS) Season 3 champions Chennai Lions made Chinese paddler Fan Siqi the highest-valued player at the Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) auction on Tuesday, splurging 19.7 Lakh tokens to secure her services for Season 6. With players going under the hammer for the first time, India\u2019s top-ranked national player Diya Chitale also emerged as the highest-valued Indian paddler, returning to Dabang Delhi TTC through the Right to Match (RTM) card at a value of 14.1 Lakh tokens after an intense bidding war.
Reigning champions Goa Challengers re-signed two-time title-winning captain Harmeet Desai via RTM with a bid of 14 Lakh tokens, double his base price. Season 2 winners Dabang Delhi TTC brought back Sathiyan Gnanasekaran with a successful bid of 10 Lakh tokens, making him the only player to have stayed with the same team in all six seasons.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Sreeja Akula returned to Jaipur Patriots for 11 Lakh tokens (RTM), while Ahmedabad SG Pipers swept in with a successful bid of 12 Lakh tokens for Manika Batra. Youngsters Ankur Bhattacharjee and Payas Jain were picked up by Kolkata ThunderBlades and Chennai Lions for 11.4 and 11.6 Lakh tokens, respectively, as all eight franchises prepared for the upcoming season with tailored recruitment strategies.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The franchise-based league, under the aegis of the Table Tennis Federation of India, will take place from May 29 to June 15 at the EKA Arena in Ahmedabad.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Goa paired Harmeet with his significant other Krittwika Sinha Roy along with Olympians Tiago Apolonia and Zeng Jian and youngsters Ronit Bhanja and Sayali Wani. Besides Sathiyan and Diya, Delhi added young talent Suhana Saini and Olympians Quek Izaac and Maria Xiao to round out a balanced squad.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cWe\u2019re thrilled to have Harmeet back with Goa Challengers, that was a priority going into the auction. The auction went well and we\u2019ve built a balanced squad. Now it\u2019s about defending the title and becoming the first team to win three consecutive titles,\u201d said Vivek Bhargava, owner, Goa Challengers.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI believe, Sathiyan will be leading from the front and the new signings will learn a lot from him. They will understand the togetherness that the Dabang Delhi franchise brings, that will go a long way. Together we can culminate into a winning team,\u201d said Dabang Delhi CEO Prashant Mishra.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Debutants Kolkata ThunderBlades landed Adriana Diaz for 19.3 Lakh tokens and paired her with experienced Nigerian paddler Quadri Aruna, picked at his base price of 11 Lakh tokens. Nineteen-year-old Ankur rounded out an all-star Kolkata attack. Chennai Lions paired Siqi with former U-17 World No. 1 Payas and Kazakhtan\u2019s Kirill Gerassimenko.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cWe went into the auction targeting Adriana, Aruna, Ankur, Selena (Selvakumar), and others \u2014 and we\u2019ve ended up with exactly the team we wanted,\u201d said Kolkata ThunderBlades\u2019 team director, Anshul Garg.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cThe auction was a very immersive experience! It kept all the teams on their toes and there was a sense of excitement and anxiety! I thoroughly enjoyed the process,\u201d said GS Ravi, owner, Chennai Lions.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
PBG Pune Jaguars secured Spanish ace Alvaro Robles for 18.1 Lakh tokens, making him the third-highest bid of the day. Pune also used their RTM card to retain Nashik-based rising talent Taneesha Kotecha.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cWe\u2019re content with the team we\u2019ve got. We are happy to get Alvaro back, who played exceptionally well. With RTM we\u2019re happy to get Taneesha back into the team as well as Dina, Reeth, Mudit, and Anirban,\u201d said Pune Jaguars\u2019 owner, Punit Balan.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
U Mumba TT invested in top domestic talent, picking up Yashaswini Ghorpade for 8.6 lakh tokens and bringing in PB Abhinandh, alongside seasoned international stars Bernadette Szocs and Lilian Bardet.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cWe are really happy to have Akash Pal back with us. Lilian (Bardet), too, is a very exciting talent. When you look at what we\u2019ve got on the female front, we have a stellar line up with two strong Indian players and Bernadette Szocs. We\u2019ve also got Abhinandh with us, one of the top U-19 stars of Indian TT,\u201d said U Mumba CEO, Suhail Chandhok.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Ahmedabad SG Pipers added star power with Manika, uniting her with WTT Star Contender Chennai 2025 quarter-finalist Snehit Suravajjula. The home side also brought in experienced foreign paddlers Ricardo Walther and Giorgia Piccolin.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI'm thrilled with the players we've secured, especially with the acquisition of Manika Batra, who is the face of Indian Table Tennis. This is a well-balanced team with the firepower and strategy to compete at the highest level. We are confident of winning the IndianOil UTT trophy on home turf!\u201d said Rohan Gupta, owner, Ahmedabad SG Pipers.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Jaipur Patriots used their RTM card to retain WTT Contender Lagos 2024 winner Sreeja, while also signing USA\u2019s Kanak Jha and the Netherlands\u2019 Britt Eerland as their foreign players. Jeet Chandra, Pritha Vartikar, and Yashansh Malik rounded out the six-member squad.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cWe are gunning for glory and couldn\u2019t have asked for a better team. Last time we had Sreeja but her injury was unfortunate however this time she is back home and we are looking forward to each and every one showcasing their best on field,\u201d said Parina Parekh, World of Krida, owner of Jaipur Patriots.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
All eight teams will play five league stage matches, while the top four will qualify for the semi-finals.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
UTT Season 6 Teams<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Ahmedabad SG Pipers: Manika Batra \u2013 12 Lakh tokens, Ricardo Walther \u2013 11.6 Lakh tokens, Snehit Suravajjula \u2013 9.9 Lakh tokens, Giorgia Piccolin \u2013 7 Lakh tokens, Divyansh Srivastava \u2013 4 Lakh tokens, Yashini Sivashankar \u2013 2 Lakh tokens<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Chennai Lions: Fan Siqi (China) \u2013 19.7 Lakh tokens, Kirill Gerassimenko (Kazakhstan) \u2013 12.4 Lakh tokens, Payas Jain \u2013 11.6 Lakh tokens, Sudhanshu Grover \u2013 2 Lakh tokens, Jennifer Varghese \u2013 2 Lakh tokens, Nikhat Banu \u2013 2 Lakh tokens<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Dabang Delhi TTC: Diya Chitale \u2013 14.1 Lakh tokens (RTM), Maria Xiao (Spain) \u2013 12.6 Lakh tokens, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran \u2013 10 Lakh tokens, Quek Izaac (Singapore) \u2013 7 Lakh tokens, Suhana Saini \u2013 2.3 Lakh tokens, Sourav Saha \u2013 2.1 Lakh tokens<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Goa Challengers TTC: Zeng Jian (Singapore) \u2013 17.2 Lakh tokens, Harmeet Desai \u2013 14 Lakh tokens (RTM), Tiago Apolonia (Portugal) \u2013 7 Lakh tokens, Ronit Bhanja \u2013 4 Lakh tokens, Krittwika Sinha Roy \u2013 4 Lakh tokens, Sayali Wani \u2013 3.7 Lakh tokens<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Jaipur Patriots: Britt Eerland (Netherlands) \u2013 11.1 Lakh tokens, Kanak Jha (USA) \u2013 11 Lakh tokens, Sreeja Akula \u2013 11 Lakh tokens (RTM), Jeet Chandra \u2013 5.7 Lakh tokens, Pritha Vartikar \u2013 2.4 Lakh tokens, Yashansh Malik \u2013 2 Lakh tokens<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Kolkata ThunderBlades: Adriana Diaz (Puerto Rico) \u2013 19.3 Lakh tokens, Aruna Quadri (Nigeria) \u2013 11 Lakh tokens, Ankur Bhattacharjee \u2013 11.4 Lakh tokens (RTM), Selena Selvakumar \u2013 3.9 Lakh tokens, Ananya Chande \u2013 2 Lakh tokens, Deepit Patil \u2013 2 Lakh tokens<\/p>\r\n\r\n
U Mumba TT: Bernadette Szocs (Romania) \u2013 15.3 Lakh tokens, Lilian Bardet (France) \u2013 11.1 Lakh tokens, Yashaswini Ghorpade \u2013 8.6 Lakh tokens, Swastika Ghosh \u2013 7 Lakh tokens, Akash Pal \u2013 4 Lakh tokens (RTM), Abhinandh PB \u2013 2.1 Lakh tokens<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Kolkata ThunderBlades: Adriana Diaz (Puerto Rico) \u2013 19.3 Lakh tokens, Aruna Quadri (Nigeria) \u2013 11 Lakh tokens, Ankur Bhattacharjee \u2013 11.4 Lakh tokens (RTM), Selena Selvakumar \u2013 3.9 Lakh tokens, Ananya Chande \u2013 2 Lakh tokens, Deepit Patil \u2013 2 Lakh tokens<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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