![Sreeja, Archana and Quadri star attractions at UTT draft](https://th-i.thgim.com/public/incoming/xwfjqz/article68356236.ece/alternates/LANDSCAPE_1200/IMG_TH27AKULA_2_1_VECJCV49.jpg)
Sreeja, Archana and Quadri star attractions at UTT draft
The Hindu
India's top women paddlers, Sreeja Akula and Archana Kamath, to be key attractions at Ultimate Table Tennis Player Draft.
Two of India’s Olympic-bound women paddlers — Sreeja Akula and Archana Kamath — will be among the major attractions for the eight franchises during the Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) Player Draft, to be held here on July 10.
The draft will be held six weeks before the fifth edition of the tournament in Chennai from August 22. The draft has been planned hours before the Indian team’s departure for Paris for what will be its maiden appearance in team championship at the Olympic Games.
Women’s World No. 10 Bernadette Szocs and veteran Nigerian and a regular at UTT, Aruna Quadri, are also likely to be sought-after up front in the draft. The addition of two teams has resulted in an enhanced player pool, with more than 50 paddlers likely to feature in the draft.
A total of 45 players will be picked in the draft, with each team required to comprise six players.
Szocs, renowned for Indian fashion statements and hard-hitting winners, will make her third appearance while European counterpart Nina Mittelham is set to maker her UTT debut. The German, ranked No. 17, will hope to garner interest with Manika Batra having been retained by Bengaluru Smashers.
Besides Manika, four top Indian male paddler — A. Sharath Kamal (Chennai Lions), G. Sathiyan (Dabang Delhi TTC), Harmeet Desai (Goa Challengers) and Manav Thakkar (U Mumba TT) — have been retained by their respective franchises.
As a result, the five teams that have retained a player each will have to skip the first round of picking a player of their choice. It means that Sreeja — released by the Delhi franchise — may be targeted by Puneri Paltan TT who released Archana after the last edition.