The third edition of the Sports National Inter-school Table Tennis Championship will be held at DRRMC indoor stadium here from December 7 to 10 in which 320 winners from 22 States would vie for team and individual honours, according to 11Sports Director Kamlesh Mehta here on Wednesday.
Speaking to media persons, he said the aim of the tournament was to build the sport at the ground level so that India produced world class table tennis players in the future. “We hope to reach 5,000 schools soon so that we can tap young talent while also giving them the right platform to take up the sport”.
He said the individual events were added in this edition and three-tier a/c fare was granted to each team and an official. “The total prize money of the tournament is Rs 3.08 lakhs,” he added.
Mr. Mehta said that the winners in each of the four categories - senior boys, girls, junior boys and girls will be richer by Rs. 25,000 (team) and Rs. 10,000 (individual). “The runners-up and the semi-finalists can also look forward to pocketing handsome cash awards”.
He said that tournament is played on a league-cum-knockout format in both the team and individual segments. “11 Sports has entered into a contract with Table Tennis Federation of India for 10 years to promote the game in the school level and our aim is 2029 Olympic Games”.
Mr. Mehta said upcoming paddlers like Suhana Saina, Vartica Bharat, Nithyashree Mani, and Vanshika Bhargava will be seen in action in the girls segment while Tejas Narang, Balamurugan, Yashansh Malik, Satyam Gupta and Wesley Rosario will vie for honours in the boys section. “The tournament will be played in 12 tables”.
The Arjuna awardee said that in line with Prime Minister’s vision of using sports as a key means for national integration and NITI Aayog’s plan to achieve 50 medals in the 2024 Olympics, 11 Sports envisions a holistic development by a systematic and professional approach by organizing tournaments like the inter-school tournament.
Later Mr. Mehta, and Andhra Pradesh Table Tennis Association secretary S.M. Sultan honoured chess Grand Master M.R. Lalith Babu who emerged senior National champion at Patna recently.
