Nikhat banu

Dempo Goa Challengers: Stanley’s Chennai Lions will be searching for their first tie win of the campaign when they take on reigning champions Dempo Goa Challengers in the Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) Season 6 on Monday.

Chennai may still be searching for their first tie win of the season, but UTT’s distinctive format–where every game matters–has kept them firmly in the playoff conversation. Despite four straight defeats, Chennai sit fifth on the table, level on points with Dempo Goa Challengers, thanks to narrow margins and consistent game hauls. With an average of 6.5 games won per tie, they remain one of the most dangerous teams in the league – even without a tie win.

Much of that credit goes to Fan Siqi and Payas Jain. China’s Fan, who suffered her first loss of the season against Yashaswini Ghorpade in the previous tie, remains one of the league’s most dominant paddlers across serve and shot stats. Payas, meanwhile, has quietly become one of the most complete players in the league - his serve success ranks second (64%), forehand fourth (51%), and backhand inside the top 10.