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Chinese paddler Fan Siqi, world No 13 Bernadette Szocs, Olympians Aruna Quadri and Alvaro Robles, and several rising Indian paddlers led by Junior World No 6 Ankur Bhattacharjee, will headline the Ultimate Table Tennis Season 6 player auction, set to take place in Mumbai on Tuesday.
For the first time in UTT history, team rosters will be shaped through a unique player auction, giving franchises greater control over their recruitment and strategies. Among the 56 players in the auction pool, youngsters Diya Chitale and Yashaswini Ghorpade, India's top-ranked women's singles players, teenage sensation Syndrela Das, and former U-17 World No. 1 Payas Jain lead a group of 25 rising Indian stars under 25, who have earned their spot alongside seasoned pros like two-time champion Harmeet Desai, former winners Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Manika Batra, Sutirtha Mukherjee, and WTT Contender Lagos 2024 winner Sreeja Akula. All eight teams have been allotted 50 lakh virtual tokens to bid on the players, along with a one-time Right to Match (RTM) card to retain a player from the previous season by matching the final bid price. The franchise-based league will take place from May 29 to June 15 at the EKA Arena in Ahmedabad. Twelve of the 16 foreign paddlers to feature in the UTT Season 6 auction are Olympians. Among those returning from previous seasons are UTT Season 2 champion Adriana Diaz and Spaniard Maria Xiao. Making their debuts are Britt Eerland, Dina Meshref, Zeng Jian, and Giorgia Piccolin. France's Lilian Bardet, who impressed in his debut last season, returns, while former UTT champion Tiago Apolonia and Kirill Gerassimenko add experience. Kanak Jha, Ricardo Walther, and Izaac Quek are entering the player pool for the first time. Meanwhile, the Indian contingent is packed with emerging stars, including World Youth Championship medalists Taneesha Kotecha, Suhana Saini, and Sayali Wani, Asian Championships medalist Sarth Mishra, and rising talents like Jennifer Varghese, Abhinandh PB, and Deepit Patil, who are looking to go shoulder-to-shoulder with senior stalwarts. Players will be divided into four base price categories: Pool A (11 lakh tokens), Pool B (7 lakh), Pool C (4 lakh), and Pool D (2 lakh). Bidding will follow a structured format with increments of 10,000 tokens, ensuring a competitive and strategic selection process as teams build their squads for UTT Season 6. (ANI)
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