Tables laid for a Feast
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The moment one talks about Siliguri, two things come to mind-a great tourist destination and the number of paddlers that this North Bengal town has produced over the years! Even as the entire country is talking about what the Indian cricketers are doing Down Under, the only sport that people here talk about is table tennis.
That, in a nutshell, also tells the story of how the people of Siliguri or, for that matter North Bengal, are knowledgeable and passionate about the game. Mantu Ghosh, Subhajit Saha and Kasturi Chakraborty or the upcoming internationals like Soumyajit Ghosh and Ankita Das are not just paddlers of repute, but a revered lot. The celebratory status they have achieved is something seen to be believed.
Having successfully hosted the Senior Nationals in 2008 and the Eastern India Championships in 2009, the TTFI without a second thought entrusted the task of hosting the 73rd Junior & Youth National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships which commence from Tuesday. The playing conditions are very good, so is the accommodation and food provided to the players. They are of high standard and, in way, also helps players give off the best performance on table. For such a grand arrangement it has made keeping in mind the players’ interest, the NBTTA certainly needs a pat on its back.
But more action will be in store when all leading players of the country get ready at the Siliguri Muncipal Corporation Indoor Stadium when the curtain is raised for the 73rd Junior and Youth Nationals from January 3. A record number of 32 teams will be in fray in the Junior Event. The cup is just near the lip of the PSPB paddlers, no doubt, with a very strong team comprising G Sathiyan, Soumyajit Ghosh, Harmeet Desai and V Nitin in the Youth Boys section and Ankita Das, Manika Batra, Pooja Sahasrabudhe and Reeth Rishya in the Youth Girls category. But you can’t simply take your eyes off the North Bengal paddlers. Beware, they are the hosts! |
And it is not without valid reason. After all, this city has given to the country a host of paddlers of class and calibre whose achievements are often spoken about. If Siliguri and table tennis are synonymous, it is because of the countless champions and Arjuna Awardees that this city has produced. Ask anyone on the street or at any office, the people here would reel out names as a magician would produce rabbits out of a hat.
Interestingly, the North Bengal Table Tennis Association will celebrate its seventh birth anniversary on January 23-it came into being in 2005. Since then it has never looked back-its players’ achievements speak for themselves. With just table tennis as its sole mantra, NBTTA has made its way up the ladder and shown it to the rest of the affiliates of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI).
Those who have arrived in Siliguri are already gripped in table tennis fever, having been caught in a festive mood that is in the air-the massive participation of people from all walks of life running into over 3000 took part in a three-kilometre rally through the main streets of the Siliguri which, among others, included Hon'ble minister for North Bengal Development Shri Goutam Deb, the Secretary General of Table Tennis Federation of India Mr. Dhanraj Choudhary, the Joint Secretary of TTFI Ms. Mantu Ghosh.