Lily Zhang Interview | It’s been a valuable experience in Ultimate Table Tennis

Ultimate Table Tennis league format adds unpredictability, pressure; Lily Zhang excels for Bengaluru Smashers in UTT.

The points format in the Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) league has added that extra bit of unpredictability and pressure on the favourites as well as the underdogs. There have been innovations that have made the league exciting for both teams and fans: best-of-three games in the 11-point system, golden point at 10-10, and if a singles paddler or a mixed doubles pair pockets one game in the best of three duel, it will be not considered an outright defeat. The points gained will determine which teams make it to the knock-outs.

Given that scenario, what Lily Zhang has done for Bengaluru Smashers is extraordinary. The 28-year-old American, world-ranked 28th, has won all her five matches, barring one (she won 2-1 against Poymantee Baisya of Chennai Lions), by 3-0 margins. Born to Chinese parents, Bob Zhang and Linda Liu, in California where she learnt the basics, she has represented USA in four Olympics (2012 London to 2024 Paris). Excerpts:

I haven’t thought too much about the 2028 Olympics. It is still four years away. Right now, I am trying to take a breather, trying to be in the moment.

I think a lot has changed in terms of level of competition, which I believe has grown. You see so many good players who have established and gone to become superstars on the international stage. My team has Manika, who has been amazing, and Jeet (Chandra), an up-and-coming paddler. I think what has remained constant is the love and the way UTT has been organised. It’s the people in the league, their warmth that has been really good. Some of my best times have been in UTT. That’s one of the reasons why I chose to come back. It’s been absolutely incredible. I am having, and had a great time, with my teammates both with U Mumba and Smashers. The manager and physio have been so supportive. Whatever you need is given. More than that, there are people who lend an ear when you are feeling down.

You learn so much from just training with them and watching them play. When Manika Batra plays, it is really inspiring to see how she handles crucial moments, how she kind of ‘self talks’... I’ve learnt so much from my team and the others too. To meet players with different rubbers has been really amazing as I don’t get to even train that way. I don’t get to play against such players regularly even at the international level.

In the international tournaments, I don’t play against such variety of players. Here, I played against Poymantee, S. Yashini, Nithyashree Mani, Krittwika Sinha Roy, and Orawan Paranang. Every other opponent has different rubbers. It is either anti-spin, long pimples or short pimples rubber. When I played against Jaipur Patriots’ Nithyashree, it was so different. I truly didn’t know how the ball was going to spin. I learnt it during the games, during the match. It has been a valuable experience so far.

We came to know that we (Lin Gaoyuan of China and I) were going to play with each other only the previous night. It was a last-minute decision. But to play and win a medal is a dream come true moment for me. And more so, it was the first time in 62 years that USA has won a medal in world championships after Dick Miles won in 1959 in singles. It is such an honour to win a medal for USA.