With the highly anticipated Coaches Draft scheduled on 26^th February for the second season of CEAT UTT, 6 Franchises will be battling it out to get their desired coaches. With a compulsion for each franchise to pick one Foreign and one Indian coach, it will be very interesting to see how things pan out.

But before the Draft commences, its time to get to know more about the coaches and what they have achieved. This will help give a fair idea as to why they are so highly rated in the game of Table Tennis.

Indian Coaches:

1. A Muralidhara Rao: The man who represented India as the coach of the National junior team at the SAF Championships 2017, masterminded India’s triumphant display as they went on to win every gold medal in all ten events. Under his guidance, players such as A.Sharath Kamal and K.Shamini have managed to reach great heights in their careers, constantly winning medals for India at both National as well as International level.

2. Soumyadeep Roy: Highly successful as a player, he went on to win the Arjuna Award in 2006 whilst also picking up the gold and bronze medals at the Commonwealth Games in 2006 and 2010 respectively. After ending his playing days, Soumyadeep currently works as the National team coach for the Senior Indian National Team. He will be highly sought after because it was under his coaching skills that Falcons TTC won the 1^st edition of CEAT UTT.

3. Sachin Shetty: A coach with tons of experience, Sachin became a part of the coaching staff of the Maharashtra State team at the National Championships multiple times from 2001. But his biggest achievement came when he led the Indian team to the Silver and bronze medal titles in different categories at the India Open 2013. His latest achievement came less than a year ago when he coached the Indian team to the Bronze medal at the Asian Junior and Cadet Championships in Korea.

4. R. Rajesh: A former player with a wealth of experience in the International circuit, R. Rajesh is an ITTF certified Level 3 Coach. Rajesh currently serves as the Coach for a host of the country’s most renowned players including Amalraj Anthony, former Commonwealth Games silver medallist and National Games champion. He was the coach of the Indian senior team which won medals at the ITTF Seamaster Pro-tour Bulgaria Open and also at the ITTF Pro-tour Thailand Open in 2017.

5. Arup Basak: A highly decorated player who bagged many medals for the country during his playing years, Arup took over as the coach of the National team from 2011. He came into the limelight with India bagging 13 medals in the 2013 Commonwealth Championship. The 2015 Asian Championship and 2016 SAF Games saw India win and improve their overall rank even further under his guidance. Having always set the best example for his players, it only makes sense if we see Franchises going all out to try and acquire his services.

6. N Ravichandran- A professional coach since 1994, Ravichandran achieved great heights as the National Coach from 2013-2017. He was a part of the Indian team which bagged 3 Gold, 7 Silver and 7 Bronze medals at the 2015 Commonwealth Games. He also coached the Women doubles team of Mouma/Manika and the Men doubles team of Amalraj/Sathiyan to the bronze medal at the 2016 Czech Open and 2016 Bulgaria Open respectively. Ravichandran knows the key to success, making him a hotshot coming into the Draft on Monday.     

Foreign coaches: 

1. Andrei Filimon (Romania): Being a part of the coaching staff at the very highest level is what makes Andrei Filimon stand out. An Assistant Coach from 2011, he was a part of the managerial team that took the Romanian national team to both European as well as the World Championships. From 2016, he has become the Head Coach for his country and has taken them to both the Olympic Games and the European Championship in 2016 and 2017 respectively.

2. Elena Timina (Netherlands): Elena has worked directly with the Dutch table tennis federation from 2009 till the end of 2017. During this period, she became the Head Coach of the ladies national team from 2012 to 2017, reaching great heights during her tenure. She was the coach of the Shaze Challengers team in the first season of the CEAT UTT before taking up lectures to promote Table Tennis and educating coaches in different aspects. The atmosphere she creates in the team is one standout factor why Franchises would want to acquire her services.

3. Francisco Santos (Portugal): A former Portuguese National team player at both the Junior and Senior levels, as a coach, he managed to bag bronze medals in both the singles and doubles in the European Youth Championships. Another magnificent triumph of his saw him lead Portugal to 2^nd place in the European Championships in 2017. With so many laurels achieved at the highest level, it can be understood why he is so highly rated, especially since being the coach of Falcons TTC, the CEAT UTT Champions in 2017.
   

4. Ferenc Karsai (Hungary): The man from Hungary achieved great heights with the National team of Austria. From bronze to gold medals across all different types of championships, approximately 180 different medals were bagged by Austria in Pro tour championships under his guidance. He has been the head coach of Austrian National team for 5 consecutive Olympics. He has also coached players of the Hungarian national team and picked up 4 bronze medals in the Hungarian Championships.

5. Peter Engel (Germany): He took charge of the Netherlands Girls team between 2000-2012, winning the title twice at the cadet European championships with teams during the 2003 and 2004 season. With a very deep understanding of the game along with tons of experience with different teams, he will be a great pick for any Franchises who picks him up.

6. Vesna Ojstersek (Slovenia): Vesna has been an instrumental figure for the Slovenian National team. Being able to reach great heights with underdogs is what makes her standout as a coach. After taking over in 2010, she transformed the Slovenian National Team and took her team from 47^th rank in the world championship to 38^th in less than two years. By the end of the 2014 National Championships in Tokyo, Slovenia had moved up to the 29^th This incredible transformation is what speaks for itself.

The experience of all the above individuals as a player and as a coach backed with their achievements at the highest level is what makes them special. It will be interesting to see who gets picked for each team! Fans can catch all the excitement as the event unfolds and watch the coaches draft event LIVE on CEAT UTT’s Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/UltimateTableTennis/