Gandhidham, Sept. 26 : Defending champions Surat will start as favourites to win the women’s title at the Servo Hypersport F5 Gujarat State and Inter-District Table Tennis Championships 2023 which is organized by Gujarat State Table Tennis Association (GSTTA) from September 27 to October 2 at the SAG Sports Complex, Khokara in Ahmedabad.
While Indian Oil is the title sponsor, GMDC is the associate sponsor and the tournament is supported by Sports Authority of Gujarat (SAG). Stiga is the equipment partner of the tournament.
Surat women’s team will see state ranked no. 5 Frenaz Chipia lead from the front to help their team bring home the elite trophy. Their top challengers will be the women teams from Bhavnagar and Ahmedabad.
In the men’s section, defending champions Ahmedabad will be led by state top-ranked player Akshit Salve but team Surat is expected to give them a run for their money with state ranked no. 2 Burhanuddin Malubhaiwala leading the charge.
The championship will be held in 18 different categories viz. Hopes (U-11) Boys and Girls, Cadet (U-13) Boys & Girls, Sub-Junior (U-15) Boys & Girls, Junior (U-17) Boys and Girls, Junior (U-19) Boys & Girls and Men’s & Women’s and Team Championship Events in Seniors, Juniors (U19) and Sub-Juniors (U15) categories.
As many as 700 players and officials from all over the state will congregate in Ahmedabad for the championship.
A record number of 15 district teams will take part in the men’s team championship while a total number of 592 entries have been received for the individual events.
Defending champion’s teams:
Men’s: Ahmedabad (Akshit Salve (capt), Abhilash Raval, Monish Dedhia, Soham Bhattacharya, Chitrax Bhatt).
Women’s: Surat (Frenaz Chipia (capt), Arnee Parmar, Aafrien Murad, Filzahfatema Kadri, Sanaya Achha).
GSTTA president Shri Pramod Chaudhary informed that the last tournament of this season will be the best. “GSTTA will give away a total cash prize money worth Rs.1,62,000/- to the winners. The venue is decked up for the mega tournament all thanks to SAG.” Chaudhary said.