PANAJI
Clube Tennis de Gaspar Dias Table Tennis Championship 2016 commenced on Tuesday with a total of 300 plus entries coming in across 10 categories.
Clube Tennis de Gaspar Dias, Goa’s first tennis club has partnered with Goa Table Tennis Association (GTTA) to organize the tournament. The State level ranking tournament which is one of the few of its kind in the State will conclude on June 12. The event is being held at the Polygon Hall at Clube Tennis de Gaspar Dias in Miramar.
The event, which is supported by Alcon Group, will be an annual fixture on the State’s sport calendar with the Clube Tennis de Gaspar Dias Table Tennis Championship slated to be held in June each year. The tournament includes 10 categories “ Under 12 (Cadet Girls and Boys), Under 16 (Sub Junior Girls and Boys), Under 19 (Junior Girls and Boys), Men’s Singles, Ladies singles, Veteran Singles and Veteran Doubles (Above 40 years). Prizes collectively amounting to Rs 51,000 will be awarded to winners in the various categories.
The tournament which will be an annual fixture is witnessing accomplished table tennis players battle it out at the Polygon Hall as the Goan sports fraternity and table tennis fans get an opportunity to witness sporting action every evening. Matches are scheduled between 4 pm and 10 pm in the evening.
Said Yogesh Nadkarni, President, Clube Tennis de Gaspar Dias, “This year, we are completing 90 years at the Clube. We have the distinction of having the first (tennis) courts in Goa. We have almost 2000 members affiliated to more than 100 clubs within India and overseas. Our priority is to give our members and others sporting infrastructure.
"We have state of the art tennis courts, a dedicated table tennis air-conditioned enclosure with three tables, dedicated card room, facilities for plating badminton, squash, and billiards. Our top priority this year is to organize all Goa tourneys. Earlier, in January, we had the first Gaspar Dias lawn tennis tournament which garnered a tremendous response with over 100 entries. Now, for the very first time we have independently organized a table tennis tourney but in association with GTTA which we propose to have annually with the said Association,” he added.
Vero Nunes, President of Goa Table Tennis Association (GTTA) said, “This is our first tournament which has attracted more than 300 entries. The standard of our cadet and sub-junior paddlers is of a high standard and they have not only excelled at the Nationals but at the international level as well. Tanisi Kirtani who is participating in this tourney won three silver medals at the Portugal Open and a bronze at the Spain Open last month.
"Wesley do Rosario, Naguesh Verenkar, Shantesh Mhapsekar are other budding paddlers of the State coming up to the international level. We also have Anthony Gomes, who did the State proud in the Veterans category at the Nationals last year in Kochi as one of the other prominent participants. Next year, as we will be celebrating our Golden Jubilee, we are organizing a National Championship for cadets and sub-juniors in the State,” Nunes informed.
Added Aakash Khaunte, Sport committee Chairman, Clube Tennis de Gaspar Dias and key sponsor of the tournament, “It is our great privilege to organize the tourney. Our vision is to give budding players in sports like table tennis an opportunity to grow. If we can groom players from the State, for a prestigious event like the Olympics at Rio it would be a great privilege. We promise to make this tourney, a yearly event at the Clube.”
