UTT 86th Senior National & Inter State Table Tennis Championships 2024
Organised by : Gujarat State Table Tennis Association and Surat District Table Tennis Association
Under the aegis of : Table Tennis Federation of India
Date : 19th to 26th January, 2025
Venue : PDDU Indoor Stadium, Surat
Gujarat trio Harmeet, Manav, Manush eye glory on home turf
Gujarat to host Senior National & Inter State Table Tennis Championships for the first-time ever
Surat, 18th January: The highly anticipated UTT 86th Senior National Inter-State Table Tennis Championships 2024 is set to kick off at the Pandit Dindayal Upadhyay Indoor Stadium on January 19 and all eyes will be on India no. 3, defending champion and the local lad Harmeet Desai (representing PSPB) as he starts favourite in the singles event of the prestigious tournament.
The Championship, in which a total prize money of around Rs 20 lakhs is up for grabs, is organized by Gujarat State Table Tennis Association (GSTTA) and Table Tennis Association of Surat District (TTASD) under the aegis of Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) with the support of Sports Authority of India (SAI), Sports Authority of Gujarat (SAG) and Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC).
The title sponsor of the event is UTT and the event is powered by Hero, co-sponsored by NJ Group, associate sponsored by Gujarat Tourism, ONGC, Pratibha Group and Airport Authority of India. Stiga will be equipment partners while SIDS Hospital will be the medical partner.
Harmeet’s city mate Manav Thakkar, representing PSPB, (India no. 5) and Vadodara’s Manush Shah, representing RBI (India no 3) will also look to garner accolades as they play in front of the Gujarati crowd.
India no.1 Gnanasekaran Sathiyan and India no.2 Ankur Bhattacharjee will be top contenders to upset the Gujarat boys’ applecart.
The marquee event, which has the largest purse in the competition’s history and 180 ranking points, will be conducted in seven categories, viz. Men & Women Team Championships, Men & Women Singles, Men & Women Doubles and Mixed Doubles wherein more than 800 paddlers from all across the country, including Olympians and Internationally-acclaimed players viz. Achanta Sharath Kamal, world no. 25 Sreeja Akula, India no.1 Swastika Ghosh, Ayhika Mukherjee and Sutirtha Mukherjee, will be seen in action.
In the team event, Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) will be the team to beat in both men’s and women’s categories.
As for hosts Gujarat, the seasoned Chitrax Bhatt will lead the men’s team alongside Jaynil Mehta and Janmejay Patel in their quest for a podium finish. The women’s team, led by seasoned paddler Krittwika Sinha Roy along with Frenaz Chipia and Filzahfatema Kadri, will aim to upset a few top teams in their pursuit for a medal.
The championships will see action unfolding on 16 Stiga tables, with DHS balls being the official equipment. Competition Manager N. Ganeshan has ensured a top-notch officiating team, led by chief referee A.S. Kler and supported by deputies P.B. Baskar, Nalin Somani, and Manish Hingorani. A mix of 15 Blue Badge umpires and 45 national and international umpires will oversee the matches.
GSTTA president Shri Pramod Chaudhary informed in the press conference that more than 1200 entries (35 men’s team and 34 women’s team) have been received for the championships which GSTTA will be hosting for the first-time ever.
“Hon’ble Minister of Jal Shakti, Government of India and MP, Navsari, Shri CR Patil will inaugurate the championship at 4 pm on January 19th in the presence of Shri Harsh Sanghvi, Hon’ble Minister of State-Home, Industries, Culture (Transport, Youth Sports) who will be the chief guest at the opening ceremony. I would urge the Surtis to come to the stadium to witness live table tennis action,” Shri Chaudhary informed.
Also present in the conference was Surat’s biggest sportsperson Harmeet. He applauded the efforts of GSTTA and TTSD who worked overtime to bring home this championship. “It’s a matter of great pride that in the 86 years of this tournament’s history, Gujarat gets the hosting rights. I have played four big tourneys at the Indoor Stadium and have had great results. I hope my good run continues,” the 31-year-old Paris Olympian said. “I have seen Gujarat paddlers progress well since 2008 and I hope more players reach at the top level,” he added.
Kushal Sangtani, organizing secretary, said that all preparations are in place for India’s biggest TT event. “This is the first time that GSTTA will organize the senior national championship. With the best infrastructure and facilities, the tournament will be a huge success,” he said.
Gujarat Men’s team: Chitrax Bhatt (Capt), Jaynil Mehta, Janmejay Patel, Pratham Madlani, Abhilash Raval.
Gujarat Women’s team: Krittwika Sinha Roy (Capt), Frenaz Chipia, Riya Jaiswal, Filzahfatema Kadri, Oishiki Joardar.
