New Delhi: India will host this year’s South Asian Junior Table Tennis Championships and the Indian Junior and Cadet Open, the TTFI has announced during its Annual General Meeting.
Shillong has been chosen to host the South Asian meet, from July 19 to 24, while the junior and cadet tournament will be held in Siliguri from October 10 to 14.
The event would be a big boost to TT in Meghalaya and can open new avenues for sports in the state.
Table Tennis Federation of India’s secretary-general, Dhanraj Choudhary added that Hyderabad, in all likelihood, will host the World Junior Championships in 2013.
The Andhra Pradesh Table Tennis Association has expressed willingness to host the event and a decision will be made on this after inspection of the venue and other facilities.
As far as the Indian paddlers’ chances of qualifying for the London Olympics were concerned, Chaudhary has his hopes pinned on the upcoming qualification tournament, to be held in Hong Kong from April 19 to 22.
The paddlers are currently training in Vienna (Austria) for the forthcoming World Championships in Dortmund (Germany) beginning March 24.
The AGM also approved the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tenvic, a Bangalore-based company owned by former India cricket captain, Anil Kumble.
The company will provide avenues for developing the skills of Indian coaches, besides giving feedbacks on areas where players have to improve.
Besides, the house honoured 95-year-old TD Rangaramanujam with the Life Time Achievement award for his services to promote the game in his long career as secretary, president of the TTFI since 1946.
The house also honoured Kamlesh Mehta and Indu Puri, both eight-time winners of singles title in men and women’s category, respectively. (PTI)
