More entries, more headaches for officials

Ajmer, December 27, 2013: With the singles entries having touched an unprecedented number, roughly 650, the organizers and the technical officials have had a tough time in completing over 1,000 Stage 1 group matches in the ONGC Cadet and Sub-Junior National Table Tennis Championships at the MC Chowhan Indoor Stadium here on today.

For instance, the sub-junior singles had boys divided into 56 groups of three or four with just one from each group qualifying to join the top eight—Manav Thakkar, Jeeth Chandra, Shaurya Pednekar, Akash Nath, Akash Choudhary, Mishal Dilawar, Neeldeep Das and Snehit—who are directly seeded in the main draw.

The situation was more or less repeated in sub-junior girls’ category where they were divided into 52 groups with matches going late into the night. Only the group leaders become eligible for the main draw where they will rub shoulders with the eight seeded players, Moumita Dutta, Naina, Abhinaya Ramesh Aishwarya Pathak, Shruti Amrute, Yashini, Koushani Nath and Poulami Das.

In both the sections, the top eight have had an off day thanks to their higher ranking points, accumulated over a period of time, after consistent performance. But their real business will begin once the Stage 2 knockout, best-of-seven matches begintomorrow.

As for the group winners, a few matches did go the full distance but otherwise they were mostly one-sided affairs in the sub-junior girls’ section. It was no different among the boys as the most favoured ones made the grade.

The scene in the Cadet Boys and Girls sections will not be clear until the group matches get over tonight.

Yielding results

Meanwhile, the TTFI’s strict adherence of instructions to associations, asking them to submit the players’ original birth certificate, seems to be bringing in the desired results. Accordingly, only those players who have submitted their original birth proof will be handed over the participation certificates.

“This was necessary because every time they (parents and coaches) assure only not to follow the rules. We were a bit lenient so far but this time we have made it compulsory for every participant to produce the original certificate. Otherwise, we are not going to issue any participation certificate,” asserted competition manager Ganeshan Neelakanta Iyer.

Obviously, this has forced parents to contact people back home and rush in their wards’ original certificates through courier or some other means. Alternatively, according to Ganeshan, the parents or the state associations can collect their participation certificates from the TTFI office in New Delhi after going through the right process.

TTFI release