Butterfly Final Desk Tennis Season 7 begins in Goa on July 9 with Dempo Goa Challengers taking over defending champions U Mumba TT. The league options 42 gamers, together with 14 Olympians, and introduces an AI-powered overview system forward of the Asian Video games
Printed Date – 8 July 2026, 05:50 PM
Hyderabad: India’s largest desk tennis stars and a few of the world’s best paddlers are set to mild up Goa as Butterfly Final Desk Tennis (UTT) Season 7 powered by ChatGPT begins on Wednesday, July 9. The season opens with a blockbuster western derby on the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium, the place hosts and two-time champions Dempo Goa Challengers face reigning champions U Mumba TT.
Over the subsequent 18 days, seven franchises will battle for the coveted title, with the Grand Finale scheduled for July 26.
Main the house problem is reigning league MVP Bernadette Szocs, one in every of Butterfly UTT’s most constant performers, who arrives in Goa after guiding U Mumba TT to the title final season earlier than switching to Dempo Goa Challengers on this 12 months’s public sale.
“I’m at all times very joyful to come back again to UTT yearly. The league retains rising with every season, and yearly it turns into even higher. It’s an exquisite feeling to be a part of it. Final season, successful the title was one thing actually superb, a sense I can’t actually describe in phrases. I’m delighted to be again once more and to be a part of this league as soon as extra,” stated Szocs at a press convention on Wednesday.
This 12 months’s Butterfly UTT carries added significance for the Indian contingent, concluding simply days earlier than the nationwide squad departs for the Asian Video games in Japan and offering priceless high-pressure match follow in opposition to world-class opposition forward of one of many 12 months’s largest worldwide assignments.
Commenting on the identical, PBG Pune Jaguars star Diya Chitale stated, “Each season, I study one thing new at Butterfly UTT. The league additionally brings a distinct form of stress. When it’s 6-6, and you already know these final 4 or 5 factors can resolve the end result, it’s a state of affairs we don’t usually expertise elsewhere. Taking part in in these moments has actually helped me develop as a participant, and I believe it’s wonderful preparation forward of the Asian Video games.”
Season 7 will characteristic 42 gamers from all over the world, together with 14 Olympians.
Among the many largest storylines this season is the arrival of World No. 3 males’s doubles participant Manush Shah at reigning champions U Mumba TT, the place the Indian star will lead the title defence.
Season 7 additionally marks the return of Austrian Olympian Sofia Polcanova after Season 2. She revealed she has stored shut tabs on the league, together with watching her worldwide doubles associate Bernadette Szocs carry final season’s title.
Butterfly UTT can even introduce the AI-powered Desk Tennis Evaluation (TTR) system this season, turning into one of many few leagues globally to undertake video overview expertise. Developed by Gurugram-based Stupa Sports activities, the league’s official expertise associate, the system will overview contested choices in below 20 seconds.
