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India’s star players like Manika Batra and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran will be among the top players who are expected to compete in the next month’s World Table Tennis (WTT) Star Contender scheduled to be held in Goa.
According to Kamlesh Mehta, secretary general of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI), the event will be held from February 27 to March 5 at the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium in Goa.
Mehta said the WTT Star Contender competition will certainly give followers of the sport an opportunity to witness some of the best players in the business.
“We are glad to be a part of the WTT Star Contender event and are excited to play our role in a world class competition,” Mehta said. “The TTFI also plans to have more international events in India in the future to provide exposure potential players.”
The competition will be organized in coordination with the Goa government and Stupa Analytics. The WTT Star Contender Series is an official professional table tennis event where the world’s best players face each other in various categories throughout the year.
The series of Star Contender events in the tour year pits 48 men and 48 women in the respective singles main draws, with the top 30 world ranks eligible to play. Four of them will have to be in the world's top 20.
"Inspire the next generation" - Managing Director of World Table Tennis
Matt Pound, Managing Director of World Table Tennis, said that a strong relationship with TTFI is crucial to ensure that grassroots is being activated around the event and that this event is being used as a vehicle for holistic table tennis growth in India.
“The goal of the WTT event is not only to showcase the world’s best players in a high-level setting, but also inspire the next generation of superstars. To do this, all stakeholders need to be working in unison to ensure that we maximize the potential of the event in India for future generations,” Pound said.
The WTT Star Contender in Goa will be a perfect catalyst for table tennis fans as well as upcoming players from across the country to witness the best players in action.
