MARGAO
The Goa Table Tennis Association (GTTA) will kick-start its domestic season with the State Ranking Table Tennis Tournament, starting on Friday, October 1 at Multipurpose Stadium, Peddem.
The GTTA had postponed their scheduled calendar of events due to the outbreak of Covid-19. With near normalcy returning now, the State committee has put in place an action plan to resume the State table tennis circuit as well as process to select teams for the upcoming nationals that have been announced by the Table Tennis Federation of India later this season.
According to GTTA Secretary Christopher Menezes, the State championship will be held in all categories “ U-11, U-13, U-15, U-17, U-19, men and women. Two more tournaments are scheduled after the State championship, organised by Rotary Club of Mapusa from October 5 to 9 and by MCC Margao from October 11 to 15, which will be held under the aegis of GTTA.
“The tournaments will be organised keeping all Covid-19 protocols in place. Some more tournaments will be announced later in consultation with our member clubs. We look forward to active participation from all our players and play in the true spirit of the game,” Menezes said.
After a long break, the resumption of competitive TT action comes as a boost to the players and fans of the game. The State Tournament to be held in collaboration with the Sports Authority of Goa (SAG), will witness the best of Goa’s paddlers in action. Anshuman Agarwal, Dheeraj Rai, Trisha Verlekar, Diljeet Velingker, Anushri Naik, Khushal Naik and Prutha Parrikar are some of the top guns who will compete for top honours in the four-day event that concludes on October 4.
Vero Nunes, the GTTA president, has his sights firmly on raising the game to the next level and promises a series of measures to kick-start the game.
“We consistently endeavour to encourage young talent to perform at their best. In this State championship, we have competition right from under 11 years, under 15 years onwards till men and ladies categories. We are also in the process of having Khelo India TT Academy in collaboration with the SAG, where the best talent will be invited for high-level coaching once the infrastructure is ready,” said Nunes, a former State TT champion.
