Vijayawada, November 28: There may be a marginal drop in entries for the fourth UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships, beginning tomorrow at the Ramakotaiah Indoor Stadium, if compared with the last two events. But what makes the tournament more vibrant is the return of the stalwarts A. Sharath Kamal and G. Sathiyan together with Manav Thakkar.

The first and last named skipped the Vadodara tournament. However, their entries in the men's singles here would bolster the organisers, who are organising the championships after five years, the rest of the field and the spectators. The Andhra Pradesh Table Tennis Association conducted a ranking event in 2018.

Of the 1788 entries, men top the field with 208. The women (158), U-19 Boys (139) and Girls (120) follow the men in that order.

Be that as it may, the competition department has its task cut out when it processes the seeding. With the considerable drop in world and national rankings, Sharath could come in the 5-8 bracket, while Sathiyan still could be at No. 2 and would follow Manav Vikas. The Surat man has the backing of both world and national rankings to stay at the top of the seeding list. There would be a tiebreak for the third position between Manush Shah from RBI and SFR Snehit from the neighbouring Telangana, as the two are equal on points. 

There would be no such problems in the women’s singles. Reigning national champion Sreeja Akula from the RBI would occupy the top-seed slot, pushing Archana Kamath to the second, followed by Ayhika and Sutirtha Mukerjees. For the records, the Hyderabadi is the only second Indian in the below 100 world rankings, and that has cemented his position in the seeding list. Archana played the best game at Vadodara in many months and deservingly won the title. The PSPB paddler would want to consolidate her position for a place in Team India, as would others, with the Worlds in February and Olympic qualifications around the corner next year.

There will be some respite for all of these title aspirants as their spoilsport, Diya Chitale, in several events in recent times, has pulled out owing to a sprained ankle. She will take a couple of weeks to recover and be in action to pose a threat to them.

The qualification events for Youth Boys Under-19 will also run concurrently. But those in the fray will miss the creamy layer in either section, who are on national duty at the World Youth Championships in Slovenia. The women's squad has already accomplished a feat, claiming the bronze for the first time.

P. Vishwanatha Rao, Secretary of APTTA, said that STAG equipment, including flooring, tables and balls, will be used for the seven-day tournament. He said a formal inauguration of the championships will be at 4 p.m.

N. Ganeshan, the competition manager, said that Mangesh Mopkar will continue as referee for the events, with Krishna Kumar and Ramana Kumar will be his deputies. They will have the services of 50 other technical officials, including Blue Badge, International and National umpires.