Vadodara, December 9: Of the 112 teams that have qualified from 28 states, 85 teams have confirmed their participation in second edition of the 11Even Sports Inter-School National Championships, getting underway here at the SAMA Indoor Stadium from tomorrow.

The championships received a real boost in terms of more entries despite certain impediments—the boys and girls have had a string of events in a span of 20 days—and when champion players like Payas Jain, Yashansh Malik, Prithoki Chakraborty, Vidhi Ameet Shah, Munmun Kundu, to name a few, arrived here for the national schools event. In fact, all these players had participated in the just-concluded Cadet and Sub-Junior Nationals at Siliguri are very much here, representing their schools.

In other words, they instantly qualify to be the real contenders in their categories and can be expected to help their schools to lay hands on the national trophies and, of course, the glittering gold medals. No doubt, they have already done once before during the state level championships and here they can add more silverware to the schools’ cupboard. 

On their part, both the organisers and the technical department have put off team draws to enable other teams—they are arriving late because of train delays—to join. The draws will now take place tomorrow at 8 a.m.

This was done to help teams get a fair draw, particularly after the change that has been effected in the format—from knockout to league-cum-knockout—besides ensuring teams and players  at least two rounds of matches in the first stage.

This, in fact, is the format that is followed in all TTFI-conducted ranking and national events and it has been introduced for the first time in the Inter-School National Championships here.

Addressing the media, eight-time national champion Kamlesh Mehta, who is also a director with 11Even Sports, the organisers, talked of the growth of the championships in its very second edition. “In the inaugural edition at Indore last year, only 19 states participated but this year we saw 28 states successfully conducting the state-level championships. These are good signs and fit the bill of 11Even Sports and TTFI. It also means were on the right path of promoting table tennis at the grassroots,” he said.

On behalf of the Table Tennis Federation of India, joint-secretary Haresh Sangtani welcomed the participants and talked on the salient features of the championships. 

On the technical aspects, Competition Manager Ganeshan N. Iyer gave an overview on the conduct part apart from putting forth his thought on the championships while briefing the media. He also spoke on the change of format and how it helped players get more opportunities at the table. “It’s a great opportunity for the players to be playing at a venue like the Sama Stadium with excellent playing conditions, including the ambiance, lighting,” said Ganeshan in praise of the venue. For the championships, Stiga equipment and balls will be used,” he added.

Anil Dubey, the chief referee for the championships, will have the assistance of nearly 35 national and international umpires.

Incidentally, the same venue will host the Junior and Youth National Championships beginning in the first week of January, 2017.