Bhubaneswar: The best of table tennis talents from Asia will be on show at the 28th IITF-ATTU Asian Table Tennis Team Championships which get underway at the Athletics Centre of Kalinga Stadium here on Saturday.
The prestigious event, being staged in India after a gap of 16 years, is also the biggest international table tennis meet to be held in Odisha.
Jointly organised by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), Asian Table Tennis Union (ATTU), Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI), Odisha Table Tennis Association and the Odisha government’s Sports & Youth Services Department, the five-day tournament will see 500 players and support staff do their best to bring glory to their respective countries.
Hosts India apart, 21 other countries — China, Japan, Republic of Korea, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Singapore, Macau, Bangladesh, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Oman, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Uzbekistan — will be vying for the coveted trophies in men’s and women’s categories.
The top teams from the Asian Team championship will qualify for the ITTF World Table Tennis Team Championships to be held in London next year.
The Indian women’s team comprises Sreeja Akula, Manika Batra, Diya Chitale, Yashaswini Ghorpade and Swastika Ghosh. The men’s team members are Ankur Bhattacharya, Payas Jain, Manush Shah, Snehit Suravajjula and Manav Thakkar.
Sports Minister hopeful of great meet
State Sports minister Suryabanshi Suraj expressed pride and optimism ahead of the Asian Table Tennis Team Championships.
“For the first time, Odisha is hosting the prestigious Asian Table Tennis Team Championships. We are simultaneously organising a national and an international event. The 40th Junior Nationals is already underway at Kalinga Stadium and will conclude on the 14th of this month,” Suraj said at a press conference on Friday.
“It’s a matter of pride that we can conduct two big events within the same period. This will enhance our experience in hosting multiple sporting events simultaneously. We are strengthening our team’s capacity — physically, mentally, and administratively — to manage and deliver large-scale events efficiently,” the minister added.
Table tennis fever
The organisers undertook several promotional activities, which helped generate great enthusiasm for the Asian Team event among sports lovers.
Tickets for the championship are available on BookMyShow, enabling fans and spectators to book their seats online for the international sporting event.
The championship trophy was unveiled on October 6, followed by a trophy tour across prominent locations, colleges and shopping malls of Bhubaneswar.