PBG Bengaluru Smashers will face hosts Chennai Lions in a tantalising Southern derby in the IndianOil Ultimate Table Tennis 2024 on Friday. The tie will feature Indian greats Achanta Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra, as well as foreign stars Alvaro Robles, Lily Zhang, and Sakura Mori, among others.

Before that, in the double-header day’s first tie, debutants Ahmedabad SG Pipers, led by Manush Shah and Bernadette Szocs, will square up against Puneri Paltan TT, featuring Ayhika Mukherjee and Joao Monteiro.

The franchise-based league is promoted by Niraj Bajaj and Vita Dani under the auspices of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI). All league matches will air on Sports18 Khel on TV and stream live on JioCinema in India and Facebook Live outside India. Tickets are available online through BookMyShow and offline at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium.

Now in their second season and captained by Spanish powerhouse Robles, who lifted the title last year, PBG Bengaluru Smashers will look to get off to a fast start. However, the team from Bengaluru will face a tough challenge against the home-backed Chennai Lions, whose star attraction, India’s top-ranked male paddler Sharath, will draw significant local support.

As such, PBG Bengaluru Smashers will aim to counter the hosts’ ‘home’ advantage with Indian ace Manika, as well as Olympians Robles and Zhang.

Earlier in the day, Manush and Szocs will lead the debuting Ahmedabad SG Pipers in their opening tie of the fifth season of IndianOil UTT. Opposing them will be last year’s semi-finalists Puneri Paltan TT, who started from scratch this season by drafting Ayhika and building a team around her.

The first tie of the day between the teams from Ahmedabad and Pune will take place at 17:00 local time. The second tie between Chennai Lions and PBG Bengaluru Smashers is scheduled to begin at 19:30.

Squads:

Puneri Paltan TT vs Ahmedabad SG Pipers

Puneri Paltan Table Tennis: Ayhika Mukherjee, Natalia Bajor (Poland), Joao Monteiro (Portugal), Ankur Bhattacharjee, Anirban Ghosh, Yashini Sivashankar

Ahmedabad SG Pipers: Manush Shah, Bernadette Szocs (Romania), Lilian Bardet (France), Reeth Tennison, Pritha Vartikar, Jash Modi

Chennai Lions vs PBG Bengaluru Smashers

Chennai Lions: Achanta Sharath Kamal, Sakura Mori (Japan), Jules Rolland (France), Poymantee Baisya, Mouma Das, Abhinandh PB

PBG Bengaluru Smashers: Manika Batra, Alvaro Robles (Spain), Lily Zhang (USA), Jeet Chandra, Taneesha Kotecha, Amalraj Anthony