Odisha leg of 3rd Inter-State Table Tennis State Championships concludes

Cuttack: New Stewart School represented by Salonee, Patta Nayak, Bhabya and Saswathi won the Senior Girls team event while DAV CSP represented by Chiranjeev, Rohit, Sahil and Aryan won the Senior Boys team even in the Odisha leg of the third edition of the TTFI Inter-State Table Tennis State Championships held at Sachin Tendulkar Indoor Hall of Barabati Stadium here on Wednesday.
The team event for Junior Girls was clinched by Buckley Girls High School represented by Tapaswini, Jayashwini, Bebina Nayak and Rachong Nayak while the Junior Boys team event title went to New Stewart School.
Saswat Bal won the Senior Boys singles title while his schoolmate from New Stewart School Sikrithi Bhagat won the Girls Singles title. Singles title for the Junior Boys went to Sreyas Sahu (DAV CSpur) while Swetha Padma Dalai (St Xavier International School) won the singles title in Junior Girls category.
Eleven teams in Junior Boys category, seven in Junior Girls category while 13 in Senior Boys and seven teams in Senior Girls categories participated in the team event. Altogether, 48 boys and 20 girls participated in the singles for Junior Boys and Girls categories respectively and 38 boys and 17 girls matched their table tennis skills in the Senior Boys and Girls categories respectively during the two-day championship.
Meanwhile, the third edition of the TTFI Inter-State Table Tennis State Championships was formally inaugurated in New Delhi on Tuesday. Close to 4,000 boys and girls from 22 states are competing between August 29 and 31, hoping to make it for the finals later in the year.
HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar, while declaring the championship open, said the country was inspired by PV Sindhu’s epic performance in the Badminton World Championship. “We have made great progress in badminton in recent years. I would want our paddlers to do the same and shine at the highest level,” he said, adding, “This championship is the right step in that direction. It will give aspiring table tennis players a level playing field to pursue their dreams.”
TTFI General Secretary MP Singh, DSTTA General Secretary Manjit Dua, Arjuna Awardee and Director of 11 Even Sports Kamlesh Mehta and former national champion Manika Batra were present at the launch at the Hansraj Model School in Delhi.