Ultimate Table Tennis an exciting prospect for India: Britain's Liam Pitchford

Mumbai: British table tennis player Liam Pitchford is one of the exciting prospects ahead of the Ultimate Table Tennis, starting on July 13. Picked up by Bayside Spinners, the 23-year-old has the experience of playing in European leagues like the German Bundesliga and the Danish league.

The inaugural edition of the Ultimate Table Tennis, which will kick-off in Chennai on July 13 for the first leg, will feature six teams. The Chennai leg will be followed by Delhi after which the players will head to Mumbai for the final round, which concludes on July 30.

Speaking about the upcoming tournament, Pitchford expressed his excitement in play a completely new format. He said, “Yes, I am definetly looking forward. It is a new system, a new league. It should be an exciting prospect for table tennis, and for the development of the sport in India.”

Pitchford also compared his experiences of playing table tennis, both in England (where there is no professional league), and in Germany (where there is one).

“When I was 17, I moved to Germany to play in the Bundesliga. That definitely helped me because in England, we don’t have a league, and it was enough practice to get me going,” he said.

Table tennis was a difficult choice for this youngster from Chesterfield as he had to choose between table tennis and football.

“When I was young, I played table tennis and football with friends. During school, we used to go and play after lunch. So, when I was 10-11 years old, I had to decide, and I decided to play table tennis, just to enjoy more”, he further added.

Liam, who has won medals in both the editions of the Commonwealth Games, in 2010 and 2014, said that he is looking forward to more in the global level when the Commonwealth Games take place next year in Gold Coast, Australia.

At this point, he recalled winning his first medal at the Commonwealth Games 2010, in New Delhi.

“I was only 17 then, and I really did not expect to win a medal, but it turned out to be a good tournament. It (Commonwealth Games 2018) is going to be a big tournament for us”, he further stated.

He hoped that the youth in England gets more opportunities to play table tennis, despite the growth of other sports like cricket and football.

“More and more kids are starting to play table tennis, and with many initiatives coming, it is just going to help the sport,” he signed off.