Gandhinagar, Sep 11: The table tennis competition of the National Games will be staged well before the opening ceremony on September 29 to ensure the presence of World Championship-bound stars, including Sharath Kamal, G Sathiyan and Manika Batra.
The trio will be among the earliest athletes in action in the 36th National Games in Gujarat as the Organising Committee decided to conduct the table tennis competition from September 20-24. The schedule had to be advanced as the World Table Tennis Championship begins in Chengdu, China, on September 30.
Gujarat, who stepped in to host the Games just three months back, has got everything together in record time and is confident of conducting one of the most memorable shows.
Kabaddi (from Sep 26), Netball (from Sep 26), Land Bowls and Rugby 7s (from Sep 28) also begin before the Opening Ceremony. Traditional Indian sports Kho-kho, Yogasana and Mallakhamb will make their National Games debut. (PTI)