Arjuna awardee and one of India’s most reputed paddlers, Kamlesh Mehta, is stoked about the inaugural edition of the Ultimate Table Tennis League.
“The league concept has been spreading across India in the last four-five years, but I wish there was a table tennis league earlier. However, somebody had to take the initiative, and Vita Dani encouraged me to start such a league,” said Mehta, 57, now the director of 11Even Sports.
“We explored the idea in August 2014 and held discussions with the Table Tennis Federation of India. In 2015, we started working towards the formulation of UTT.”
When asked if commercialisation of this sort was necessary to provide a fillip to the sport in India, Mehta said, “In terms of popularising the sport, yes. I’m confident that UTT will make not only the game more popular, but the players as well.”
Commenting on the global scene, Mehta said: “We have a greater presence [in the TT circuit] now and are seen as a strong nation. Players like Sharath Kamal, Soumyajit Ghosh and Harmeet Desai have played well abroad. The youngsters and women are also putting up good results. The TTFI is also contributing by organising a lot of international tournaments in India.”
He said the game has evolved a lot since his playing days. “I’ll confidently say that this is the only sport that has evolved so much. Right from the scoring pattern, to the game pattern, to the size of the ball, to the racquets and the techniques, everything has undergone a drastic change.” he said.
Mehta said he hopes the league works as a stimulus for youngsters to perform well at the national level and participate in the editions to follow.
“I want the game to go to the next level and look forward to many exciting matches in UTT,” concluded Mehta.