With only a few months left for the Commonwealth Games, the neglected sport of Table Tennis finally found good financial backing and incentives through the NCC Indian Open, which offers a whopping prize money total of $ 100,000. Ten sponsors have come forward to make this possible.
A total of 13 countries are scheduled to participate in the event, which is essentially a test event for the Commonwealth Games. It will be played at the Yamuna Sports Complex which is still pending construction for its completion ahead of the mega event from October 3-14. However, once it is completed, according to TTFI it will be one of the finest table tennis stadiums in the world.
The tournament will have the likes of Pakistan, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Chinese Taipei and Russia among others participating, and has a top prize of $ 12,800 for the winners in both female and male category. Nagarjuna Construction Company Ltd will be the title sponsor, and TMS International, Joola, DHS, ONGC, Vatika Group, Stag, GAIL, DDA, and the Sports Ministry will be the other sponsors in what is clearly a good sign for the sport in the country.
India will have a 12-member squad for the events whereas all other countries will have a total of six each. Achanta Sharath Kamal, ranked 91 in the World, will head the Indian attack that will also include the likes of former national champion Subhajit Saha, Sourav Chakraborty and Soumyadeep Roy. Mouma Das will head the ladies in what will be 46 Indians taking part in the tournament.
The lucrative prize money and the fact that it will be the only ranking tournament for the month due to cancellation of the China Open will make sure competition is tough.
The event starts today and continues till June 20. It will be a huge thing for the TTFI who have never held a bigger event before.
