-- R Ramachandran, TTFI

Indore, October 5: Country’s top paddlers see in the National Ranking (Central Zone) Table Tennis Championships, beginning here at the Abhay Prashal from tomorrow, an opportunity to dust off their long festival breaks and clear away the cobwebs ahead of a hectic domestic season.

The 700-odd participants do realize the import and substance of the championships, offering 10 medals in the Cadet, sub-junior, junior, Youth and senior sections. Surprisingly, three former national champions—A. Sharath Kamal, Anthony Amalraj and Soumyajit Ghosh—will be missing the event with no explanation for their absence. Divya Deshpandey is the lone withdrawal from the women’s action, citing medical reasons.

Incidentally, Amalraj had pulled out of the August Inter-Institutional event in New Delhi after making a cursory appearance on the first day.

MPTTA secretary-general Jayesh Acharya profusely thanked the title sponsors, Agarwal Group and Chameli Devi Group of Institutions, and other powered-by regular sponsors like the ONGC, Bank of India, Dholagiri Tea and Canara Bank for lending a helping hand.

“I can’t thank these people enough because when I approached them for sponsorships, they readily agreed. I appreciate their gesture. Similarly, Stag International have been very supportive all through by supplying equipment for the event,” said Acharya.

The first zonal event of the season, which the Madhya Pradesh Table Tennis Association (MPTTA) is hosting for the next six days, will be conducted at its own facility.

The national ranking event has its charm, other than preparing players for the tough battles ahead. Apart from the prize money attraction, the most significant aspect for a paddler is the points he or she would earn from such events to go up the ranking charts. A good showing will always help them with tickets to various nationals as their selection is based on performance.

If put in the right perspective, the championships have attracted over 1,000 entries from among the 700 plus paddlers, taking the enthusiasm levels in Cadet and sub-junior boys and girls, who set the ball rolling for the first two days, to a new height.

Though qualifiers in the junior categories will begin late on Tuesday, those who stand the test of time will go through to the main draw, starting a day later. This will be followed by the Youth category events and, finally, the qualifiers in the senior section on the fourth day.

However, the big-ticket action in the Youth and Senior sections will unravel when the top-ranked players throw their hats in the ring from the fifth day. Until then, it will be a field day for the promising and no-so-promising players.

With a good number of entries in Cadet and Sub-Junior boys and girls, there is bound to be an interesting tussle among the competitors to take the top two slots in group matches in order to be able to make the main-draw cut.

The same goes for paddlers entered in other categories. The national ranking event also throws open an opportunity to players in Cadet, sub-junior, junior and Youth as they get to compete in next higher categories. This is always considered a good option for them to learn the nuances in an experienced company.

The championships will see Stag International tables on synthetic flooring and Nittaku white balls being used. According to competition manager Ganeshan Neelakanta Iyer, the chief referee for the event will be Anil Dubey from Ajmer and he will be assisted by A.S. Kler from Delhi. They all will be assisted by a 45-member technical team comprising Blue Badge, International and National umpires.

The championships will be formally inaugurated in the afternoon by Sports Director Upendra Jain, IPS, who took charge recently.