PANAJI: Goa Table Tennis Association (GTTA) will kick-start its domestic season with the State Ranking Table Tennis Tournament, starting Friday (October 1) at Multipurpose stadium, Peddem.
The GTTA had postponed their scheduled calendar of events due to the outbreak of Covid-19. With near-normalcy returning now, the state committee has put in place a vibrant action plan to resume the state table tennis circuit as well as to select teams for the upcoming Nationals that have been announced by the Table Tennis Federation of India later this season, says a press release.
The Goa TT Association secretary, Christopher Menezes elaborated on GTTA’s upcoming plans, saying: “It gives me immense pleasure to announce the starting of our TT calendar 2021-22 with the State TT championship 2021. The tournament will be held in all categories namely U11, U13, U15, U17, U19, Men & Women. Two more tournaments are scheduled after this one, organised by Rotary club of Mapusa from October 5 to 9 and by MCC Margao from October 11 to 15, which will be held under the aegis of GTTA. The tournaments will be organised keeping all Covid protocols in place. Some more tournaments will be announced later in consultation with our member clubs. We look forward to active participation from all our players and play in the true spirit of the game.”
After a long break, the resumption of the state TT circuit come as a boost to all players and fans of the game. The state tournament to be held in collaboration with the Sports Authority of Goa, will witness the best of Goa’s paddlers in action. Anshuman Agarwal, Dheeraj Rai, Trisha Verlekar, Diljeet Velingker, Anushri Naik, Khushal Naik and Prutha Parrikar are some of the top guns who will compete for top honours in the 4-day event that concludes on October 4.
Vero Nunes, GTTA President, has his sights firmly on raising the game to the next level and promises a series of measures to kick-start the game following Covid-19 disruption. “We consistently endeavor to encourage young talent to perform at their best. In this State Championship we have competition right from under 11 years, under 15 years onwards till men and ladies categories. We are also in the process of having Khelo India T.T. Academy in collaboration with S.A.G. where the best talent will be invited for high level coaching once the infrastructure is ready,” stated Nunes, a former Goa State TT champion.
