COVID-19 wreaks havoc again; Table tennis, Cricket domestic tournaments put on hold

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit sports hard again. Amid the surge in the number of COVID-19 positive cases, including the new variant Omicron, various sports federations in the country have postponed domestic tournaments.

The Special Executive Committee of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) decided to postpone events in three categories (U-15, U-13 and U-11). These are part of the ongoing UTT National Ranking (Central Zone) Table Tennis Championships in Indore. The Senior Nationals in Shillong have also been postponed.

The Cadet and Sub-Junior Nationals, which were scheduled to begin on January 11, have also been put on hold due to COVID-19.

Read: Surge in pandemic cases in New Delhi halts sports activities

The decision was made during a virtual meeting chaired by Senior Vice-President Rajeev P. Bodas, Secretary General Arun Kumar Banerjee and three organizing stakeholders of the four championships. These include Central Zone National Ranking Championships and Cadet and Sub-Junior Nationals, MPTTA president Om Soni, Senior Nationals and Meghalaya TTA secretary Chiranjib Choudhary.

It also featured the Junior and Youth Nationals, president N. Ganeshan of TTAK besides secretaries from other states.

The prevailing COVID-19 situation was taken into consideration, particularly in the aftermath of several COVID-19 positive cases at the Central Zone events. The Secretary General announced that the three events in the Central Zone championships and the Cadet and Sub-Junior Nationals stands postponed.

The Secretary General also decided to postpone the Senior Nationals to be held in Shillong from January 22 to January 29. They said that it was in the best interests of the players and officials.

As for the Junior and Youth Nationals (Alleppey), the Secretary General said that there was no change in the original schedule (February 22-March 2) for the time being.

COVID-19 hits domestic, women's cricket

Similarly, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to put the Ranji Trophy on indefinite hold. The same is the case with the Col CK Nayudu Trophy and the Senior Women's T20 League.

BCCI Secretary Jay Shah released a statement. He said the BCCI does not want to compromise the safety of the players, support staff, match officials and other participants involved. Hence, the BCCI has decided to put the three tournaments on hold till further notice.

The statement added that the BCCI will continue to assess the COVID-19 situation and take a call on the start of the tournaments accordingly.