The game moved from its indoor confines, into the open and the public’s midst to celebrate World Table Tennis Day! On Friday, hundreds of walkers stopped for a new spectacle in the parking lot facing Visakhapatnam’s Beach Road YMCA. A table was set up on which school, college students, juniors, seniors and veterans played exhibition matches. The weather proved sporting too, the breeze from the Bay of Bengal choosing not to hinder the many rallies that marked the exchanges.
Curious onlookers received pamphlets detailing benefits of the sport, the favourite of billionaires Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. The display had its desired effect. Many were keen to enrol their children in various coaching schemes spread across the port city.
T.S. Anand Rao and K. Anand Kumar, who between them clinched a golden treble in the over-70 category at the recent Jaipur veterans’ Nationals, were felicitated, as were the district’s 30 promising paddlers selected for various national events. Ten coaches working on training programmes in different institutions were also honoured.
Slew of tournaments
J.K. Nayak, president, Visakhapatnam District Table Tennis Association (VDTTA) and general manager, Orissa Stevedores, assured all support for the game’s growth. Towards that end, secretary D.V.S.Y. Sharma announced a slew of tournaments — district inter-institutionals, VPT Chairman’s Cup, LIC Cup, DRM Cup, Little Angels Cup, District Premier League, Sarada Trophy, AP State championships and probably the National-ranking south zone tournament in September.
Backing the initiative were AP Table Tennis Association president V. Bhaskar Ram and secretary S.M. Sultan. T.S.R. Prasad, president, Visakhapatnam District Olympic Association, Dr. S. Sridhar, chairman, SMS Dental Hospital, J. Srinivas Rao, chairman, East Coast Maritime Academy and Tarang, second commandant, CRPF, were present.
