Indore, June 18: The 11Even Sports National Ranking (Central Zone) Table Tennis Championships, beginning at Abhay Prashad Indoor Stadium heretomorrow, has a couple of new elements in the season opener, particularly the open draw introduced for the first time in a domestic event for better transparency.

The six-day championships, which start with singles in seniors sections, saw top 16-ranked men,  eight women and eight Youth and Junior Boys and Girls indulging in the novelty, with all the biggies present to pick the open draw yesterday.

G. Sathiyan, the top seed in men singles, was absolutely thrilled at the move and welcomed it. “A great shift by TTFI and I endorse it,” he said. “It gives you a kind of satisfaction. Sometimes you need a bit of luck, but you can’t complain,” added Sathiyan as he prepares to make most of the absence of top-ranked Indians in the world, A. Sharath Kamal and Soumyajit Ghosh.

Pooja Sahasrabuddhe, who is seeded third behind Madhurika Patkar, the national champion, and Suthirtha Mukherjee, too happy to pick her draw.  “I have a fair idea of who my potential opponent in the quarter-finals could be. This is a luxury in a domestic competition. It’s a good system and it is here to stay,” she said.

Players at praftice at Abhay Prashad on the eve of the Central Zone championships on Sunday

Joining the chorus were two former national champions Arup Basak and A. Radhika, who are now manning the ongoing India camp here along with foreign expert Massimo Costantini. “How we wish the system was prevalent during our playing days,” said Radhika. “It gives great leverage to players to work on mentally on matches ahead.”

Massimo, speaking from his experience, said it was a very good step in the right direction. “There is no room for complaint and players can see the fairness of the draw,” he said.

The 16 seeded men players, along with eight women seeds and eight each in Youth and Junior Boys and Girls, who have all been given direct entry in the main draw, will have nothing to do with the group qualification action which gets underway tomorrow morning.  

Continuing in its effort to groom a second line and creating good bench strength, TTFI has given the responsibility to a young chief referee in Mangesh Mopkar. The man from Nagpur will be put to a strenuous test at the championships which has over 1,400 entries. No doubt, he will have an efficient guide in old warhorse A.S. Kler and a battery of other deputy referees and about 50 technical hands to assist him with competition manager in new ITTF URC-inductee Ganeshan Neelakanta Iyer, to guide.

Any season opener is crucial to players as, after a gap of five months, they have to begin afresh barring those players who have been competing in international events.  Hence, all participants will be keen to get a nice start and last the full course to garner maximum ranking points and a decent portion of the prize purse, totaling nearly Rs. 6 lakh.

Top-seed Madhurika Patkar during open draw on Saturday.

All top players, who are part of Team India scheme, know that only a consistent and good performance can help them keep their places intact. For that to happen, a good outing is a must and one can anticipate a fierce fight as luckily the Central Zone boasts of all top players’ participation in each of the 10 sections. Of late, India’s young guns have been doing well and it will be their endeavour to make a mark in the championships, paving the way for a secured future.

According to competition manager, STAG flooring and tables will be used for the championships and the matches will start at 9.30 a.m. with 16 tables in place.