Sharath set to defend national title in Kolkata
By IANSThursday, January 13, 2011
NEW DELHI - India’s top tennis player Sharath Kamal will be among the star attractions in the 72nd Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships starting in Kolkata Monday.
Commonwealth Games men’s doubles gold medallist Sharath and Subhajit Saha, Soumyadeep Roy, Anthony Amalraj are the big names to take part in the country’s premier table tennis event.
Sharath Kamal will be defending his crown in the men’s singles, but defending champion in women’s section veteran Poulomi Ghatak will miss the tournament with a knee injury.
The team of Shamini Kumaresan, Madhurika Patkar and Mouma Das, who won silver in CWG will participate.
The team championship will be conducted from Jan 17-20 and individual competition from Jan 19-23.
Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) are the top seeds in the men and women’s team event. Maharashtra are seeded second. The individual draw will be announced later.
Thirty one states including two institutions have confirmed participation in the men’s team championships, whereas in the womens category 27 states and two institutions will compete. The state of Arunachal Pradesh will make its debut.
The matches will be played at the Netaji Indoor Stadium and Kolkata will host the tournament after a gap of eight years.
The prize money of the event stands at Rs.7 lakh approximately.
