National ranking table tennis returns to Delhi after 13 years

A host of India players including reigning national champion Diya Chitale and Commonwealth Games gold medallists G. Sathiyan and Harmeet Desai will headline the UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Tournament beginning here from September 7.

The tournament has attracted as many as 2958 entries. Delhi State Table Tennis Association is hosting a national ranking tournament for the time first time since 2008 though the Table Tennis Federation of India had organised one in the capital back in 2012 with the support of Haryana.

The tournament will run from September 7 to 14 at the Thyagraj Stadium. The players will battle it out across 12 events including the senior, U-19, U-17, U-15, U-13 and U-11 categories.

The national champions in the men’s field include Sathiyan, Harmeet, Anthony Amalraj and Soumyajit Ghosh, who disappeared from the national set up after featuring at the 2012 London Olympics due to personal issues.

Chitale will be the favourite in the women’s field including veteran Mouma Das, Madhurika Patkar, Reeth Rishya and Divya Deshpande.

Delhi-based India star Manika Batra is not available for the tournament as she is busy with international commitments with her world ranking slipping to 55.

“The number of entries, 2958, is a strong indicator of the interest the tournament has generated. I don’t remember the last time there were these many entries for a national ranking event. We are fully ready to host the event,” said Gurpreet Singh, president of DSTTA.

Also part of the organising committee is national coach and Dronacharya awardee Sandeep Gupta.

“With so many national champions part of the field, it is a great opportunity for the budding players in Delhi to see them in flesh and blood and learn from them at the same time. Playing against the best in the country, they would also get to upskill themselves,” said Gupta.