MUMBAI, June 3: Four-time Olympian Elena Timina, who led Goa Challengers to victory last season, will guide the Bengaluru Smashers in the upcoming edition Ultimate Table Tennis.
Each of the eight franchises selected both a foreign and an Indian coach a the coaches draft event here on Monday.
The draft saw significant selections as Ahmedabad SG Pipers opted for the experienced Francisco Santos, marking his fifth UTT participation.
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Dabang Delhi TTC and Jaipur Patriots chose Indian coaches Sachin Shetty and Somnath Ghosh, respectively.
Four Indian coaches will make their UTT debut this season: Jay Modak with Ahmedabad SG Pipers, Anshuman Roy with Bengaluru Smashers, former national champion Subhajit Saha with Goa Challengers, and Subin Kumar with Chennai Lions.
Dabang Delhi TTC reunited the successful combination of Shetty and Slovenian coach Vesna Ojstersek, aiming to improve on their 2019 runner-up finish.
Other notable appointments include U Mumba picking John Murphy, the current England team head coach, while retaining Anshul Garg.
Goa Challengers selected Hungarian women’s team coach Zoltan Bartofi, and Chennai Lions will be guided by Tobias Bergman, head coach of the Swedish National team.
The upcoming season is scheduled to be played in Chennai from August 22 to September 7. The league has been expanded to eight teams.
Teams and coaches (in the order of selection):
Bengaluru Smashers: Elena Timina (Netherlands), Anshuman Roy
Ahmedabad SG Pipers: Francisco Santos (Portugal), Jay Modak
Dabang Delhi TTC: Sachin Shetty, Vesna Ojstersek (Slovenia)
U Mumba TT: John Murphy (Ireland), Anshul Garg
Goa Challengers: Zoltan Batorfi (Hungary), Subhajit Saha
Puneri Paltan Table Tennis: Jorg Bitzigeio (Germany), Parag Agarwal
Jaipur Patriots: Somnath Ghosh, Ronald Redep (Croatia)
Chennai Lions: Tobias Bergman (Sweden), Subin Kumar. (PTI)
