the goan I network
PANAJI
Goa Table Tennis Association (GTTA) will organize the 79th Cadet & Sub-Junior National & Inter-State Table Tennis Championships 2017 in collaboration with the Sports Authority of Goa. The championship powered by 11Sports will be held from December 14 to 19 at Dr S P Mukherjee Indoor Stadium, Goa University, Taleigao. The championship will be held under the aegis of Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI).
In its golden jubilee year, GTTA had last week organised a Veterans International championship. The association has been concentrating on giving maximum exposure to the younger players and had recently organised a month-long coaching camp only for the Cadets, Sub Junior and Junior players under Korean coaches and had also organised World Cadets and Junior championships twice, as also the Road to Nanjing championship allotted to each continent by the International Table Tennis Federation.
The Nationals will witness in all 120 teams in the Cadets and Sub Junior Boys and Girls section from 32 States. Shnatesh Mapsekar who is ranked No 2 in Cadets individual and who has reached 4 out of 5 finals at the National Ranking championships held in the 5 zones in India, will spearhead Goa's challenge at the championship in the Cadet Boys section. He will be assisted by Aarav Aiyer, Aaron Colaco and Advait Mudras.
In the Sub Junior Boys sections, which will be under-15 years category, the duo of Shantesh Mapsekar and Nagesh Verenkar who are only 11 and 12 years of age, will have an uphill task to challenge the might of higher ranked and older players. The Goan girls will have to bring their best to compete in both the categories. The total number of entries in the Cadets Boys individuals is 194, Cadet Girls 167, Sub Junior Boys 222 and Sub Junior Girls 207. In cadets Boys, Suresh Raj Priyesh from Tamil Nadu who has won all the 5 National Ranking Championships has been top seeded followed by Shantesh Mapsekar from Goa, Ankur Bhatarcharya from West Bengal and Arnav Aggarwal from PSPBA.
In Cadets Girls, the top seed is Suhana Saini from Haryana, followed by Pritha Vartikar (Maharashtra A), Nehal Venkatasamy (Tamil Nadu) and Arya Songadkar (Maharashtra A). Similarly in Sub Junior Boys, top seed is Deepit Rajesh Patil (Maharashtra A), followed by Payas Jain (Delhi), Jeho Himnakulhpuingheta (PSPB A) and Dev Shroff Maharashtra A. Gogoi Trisha (Assam), Kundu Munmun (West Bengal), Mani Nithyashree (TN) and Rohira Mihika (Maharashtra A) are the top 4 seeds in the Sub Junior Girls section.
N Ganeshan, International Competitions Manager, assisted by seven technical delegates, 4 Blue Badge international umpires, 22 outstation national umpires and 20 Goan national umpires will conduct the mega event. The total prize money, including trophies and medals, is Rs 5 lakh. The championship budget is Rs 75 lakh. Bulbul, designed by Goa's premier creative Artist Francisco Martins, will be the championship mascot.
GOA TEAM
Cadet Boys: Shantesh Mapsekar, Aarav Aiyer, Aaron Colaco and Advait Mudras; Cadet Girls: Sneha Mesta, Simran Kubal, Trusha Hammanavar and Anushri Naik; Sub Junior Boys: Shantesh Mapsekar, Nagesh Verenkar, Jayz Gomes and Nilay Kamat; Sub Junior Girls: Taniya Patil, Sanisha Shetye, Aditi Chodankar and Sneha Mesta; Coaches: Diljeet Velingker and Raja Dayal
