Ultimate Table Tennis Season 3 will start off with a bang in the capital, as Season 2 Champions Dabang Delhi T.T.C. take on new outfit Puneri Paltan Table Tennis at the Thyagaraj Sports complex today.

With a change in format, the strategy will be key to success for any team this season, as all six franchises look well-balanced on paper.

Sathiyan Gnanasekaran will lead the charge for Dabang against his recent Commonwealth Table Tennis Championship counterpart, Harmeet Desai, who will lead the Paltan. Fans will be eager to watch two of India’s young and in-form paddlers go head to head. But with the current change in format, there is no guarantee which male paddler will play another from the opposite team. The same will be for the female paddlers, and the toss will be crucial so that the teams plan their gameplay accordingly.

This season will have just two foreign paddlers, one male and one female, per franchise. For Puneri Paltan, it is the experienced Chuang Chih-Yuan from Chinese Taipei, and German livewire Sabine Winter. For the holding Champions, Season 2 finalist Bernadette Szocs and Swedish debutant Jon Persson represent the franchise. It will be interesting to see how the coaches and captains use these paddlers to best suit the team.

On paper, Puneri Paltan has a team better versed with the UTT, with all their six paddlers having featured in the previous season. “We’re playing against Dabang Delhi, defending champions of UTT Season 2, and we are ready for them”, said skipper Harmeet Desai, on his team’s preparation ahead of today's showdown.

Compared to the Paltan, Dabang have three paddlers who have UTT experience in the form of Sathiyan, Krittwika Sinha Roy and Bernadette, and they field three debutants – Naina, Parth Virmani and Jon.

“We are really excited for the opening Tie today against a very strong side, Puneri Paltan. But we are really confident, and we’ll go all guns blazing,” said the captain of the reigning champions when asked about his thoughts on today's tie.

Tune in to Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports Select 1, Star Sports Select 1 HD, Hotstar and JioTV today at 7 pm IST to catch the season opener and find out for yourself which team prevails.