Top men paddlers skip North Zone National Ranking Table Tennis Championships

New Delhi, December 12: The absence of stalwarts like Sharath Kamal, Soumyajit Ghosh, Anthony Amalraj and Harmeet Desai from the North Zone National Ranking Table Tennis Championships may have taken a little bit of sheen off the event, starting at the Hansraj Model School, Punjabi Bagh, here from tomorrow, but the zonal meet is equally important for those 500 paddlers who are in fray.

The absence of these players, who are competing in various Leagues abroad, provides a very good opportunity for the aspiring contenders, at least in the men’s section, to have a shot at the title and, if not, earn valuable points to enhance their position in the ranking table. After all, these points will count for much when their selection for the various nationals, including the Senior Nationals to be held at Patna between January 7 and 12, 2014, is considered by their states and institutions.

Luckily, all top women paddlers, including national champion K. Shamini and the likes of Poulomi Ghatak, Manika Batra, Madhurika Patkar, Divya Deshpande, Mouma Das, Ankita Das and Mousmi Paul, to name a few, are participating in the zonals which begin with the Cadet and Sub-junior events in the boys and girls sections and followed by Junior, Youth and Senior category competitions.

It is just not the ranking points, but also the prize money which is up for grabs up in the Rs.5.76 lakh championships with top eight finishers in each category sharing the spoils. The Cadet and Sub-junior finals are slated for Saturday while the finals in the senior section will be played on Wednesday next.

Incidentally, this will be the last zonal event before all the nationals that start getting underway from Ajmer which will host the Cadet and Sub-Junior Nationals in the third week of December. This is followed by the Patna senior nationals in the first week of January and after that the Junior and Youth nationals at Guwahati from January 15 to 20.

The championships, to be sponsored by Vatika and Carbon Mobiles, will have Stag equipments (flooring and tables) while Tibhor and Nittaku balls will be used. Ganeshan Neelakanta Iyer has been nominated the competition manger for the event with Anil Dubey as the chief referee, who will be assisted by A.S. Kler and H.K. Oberoi.  The formal inauguration of the championships will be done at 4.30 p.m. tomorrow evening.

A TTFI Press release