“The indefinite suspension of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) in a year of the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games is going to be tough for players, including those from para, across the board.”
This is how Sharath Kamal, a medallist from the 2018 editions of these Games reacted to the recent Delhi High Court order and pointed out the difficulty faced by the players in sending their entries to various international events coming up next month.
Approaching deadlines
Elaborating on the scenario, Sharath said, “Some of us, ranked players, are due to take part in four World events (one in Singapore and three in Doha) and around 30 para players are waiting for the upcoming Egypt Open. Since the TTFI was to send the entries and the last date of sending entries for three of these WTT events is February 15 (February 17 for Egypt Open), the concerned players are clearly distressed.
“Following the court order on Friday, G. Sathiyan and I wrote to the WTT to accept our entries for these events since the last date was February 15. We were relieved when the WTT assured us it would accept our doubles entry for the WTT Smash in Singapore besides all entries for WTT Feeder and WTT Contender in Doha. But what about all other players as we go along?
“The situation appears quite fluid. Should the National championship go on as scheduled in Shillong (March 20-27), the players will have to change their travel arrangements.
Juniors’ plight
“Consider the plight of the juniors who have a number of WTT Youth events coming up. Back home, the National youth and junior championship is due in Alappuzha (March 28-April 3). Let’s not forget, March is the month of annual school exams. As a result, there is enough on these young minds.
“I hope there is clarity, at the earliest, on how the entries for international events are routed from now on. After all, in this busy year, the preparations for the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games are of paramount importance,” reiterated Sharath.
