Panjim (Goa)[India], February 27 (ANI):Three rounds of qualifying unfold over two days will start official proceedings of the World Table Tennis (WTT) Star Contender Goa right here at Panjim’s Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor stadium from Monday.
In what shall be an enormous alternative for the following technology of Indian Table Tennis, 15 Indian paddlers led by senior professional Harmeet Desai in males’s singles and 13, led by world quantity 84 Archana Kamath within the ladies’s singles, will look to seize one of many eight qualifying spots in every draw. As many as 17 Indian pairs throughout codecs, will even look to ebook one of many 4 qualifying spots obtainable within the males’s, ladies’s and combined doubles respectively. The essential draw begins from March 1 with 4 of the 5 finals slated for March 5.
Leading the traces for India within the males’s singles qualifiers would be the spectacled 22-year-old Manush Shah, who’s presently ranked quantity 109 on the planet. Manush started the 12 months with a bang, profitable the UTT National Ranking Championships in Vadodara in January. He had additionally gained the Ecuador Open International title again in 2021.
Speaking forward of the occasion, Manush mentioned, “I am playing the men’s singles and also the men’s doubles and the mixed doubles. So yes, I am looking to qualify for stage two and go as far as possible in the tournament. We are really grateful that a Star Contender event is happening in India and we are all really looking forward to it.”Also wanting ahead to the match is 16-year-old Pritha Vartikar, ranked 467 on the planet and enjoying in her first WTT senior occasion. According to her, “I am very excited to play this tournament, see good players in action. It will be a really good experience for the youth. I am looking forward to playing and want to make it to the main draw.”Another bespectacled 22-year-old from Gujarat is Manav Thakkar, the world quantity 127, who will even be within the fray within the qualifiers. Having had some success within the WTT Contender occasions with Harmeet Desai, Manav is grateful {that a} Star Contender stage match is being hosted in India.
He additionally shared his views a day earlier than the qualifiers saying, “I have been preparing in Chennai for the last two weeks. They have gone very well. We are all pumped up and it looks like I am in good shape. I think it’s a very good opportunity for me and other youngsters as we can learn from the top players by seeing them live in action. I am sure I will be watching them, how they practice and how they prepare for the matches, or how much time they are taking for recovery, or what they do post-match or what happens if they win or lose. These are the very small things which we cannot see when we are watching online or on YouTube. So, I think these are the things which a youngster should observe and learn from.”The likes of Manush, Pritha and Manav shall be up in opposition to some robust opponents within the qualifiers, in addition to their very own teammates like senior execs Harmeet Desai and Sanil Shetty among the many males and Archana Kamath, Ayhika Mukherjee and Sutirtha Mukherjee among the many ladies.
In the lads’s draw for instance, world quantity 73 Mizuki Oikawa of Japan and world quantity 95, Kang Dongsoo of Korea, are skilled campaigners in addition to the younger and thrilling 16-year-old Felix Lebrun of France, who gave Chinese legend Ma Long a battle final 12 months in Budapest. Among the ladies, in addition to world quantity 72 Adina Diaconu of Romania and world quantity 85, Zhu Chengzhu of Hong Kong, China, one other thrilling French teenager this time of Indian descent, Prithika Pavade, shall be robust nuts to crack.
A complete of 200 gamers from 30 international locations shall be taking part within the WTT Star Contender Goa 2023, which is able to embody a minimum of 5 top-20 gamers in each the lads’s and ladies’s singles essential attracts. (ANI)