Chance to witness top-notch paddlers ply their wares

Indian table tennis stars shine at WTT Star Contender event with high local participation and top-ranked players in action.

Seldom does one witness so many Indian table tennis stars in a global tournament and that too at a WTT Star Contender event.

Seven men and nine women in the main draw and 28 men and 35 women in qualifying makes it clear about the local participation here.In fact, in women’s qualifying, all were Indians!

Due to a National Entry Restrictions (NER) rule in the main draw, quite a few players including India’s Sayali Wani have been left out. But that does not diminish the quality of the field.

Four men’s singles players in the World’s top 20, and seven in the women’s, are proof enough of the quality of the field.

Tomokazu Harimoto (World Ranking 3), Hugo Calderano (6), and Omar Assar (19) in men and Hina Hayata (5), Miwa Harimoto (6), Satsuki Odo (8), Shin Yubin (10), Cheng I-Ching (11), Adriana Diaz (16) and Miyuu Kihara (17) in women are a treat to watch any day.

To see such celebrated players in the main draw, beginning at the Nehru Indoor Stadium on Thursday, is an opportunity worth its weight in gold.

Meanwhile in the final qualifying round on Wednesday, India’s Anirban Ghosh scripted a facile 14-12, 11-7, 12-10 win over seventh seed Carlo Rossi of Italy but compatriot P.B. Abhinandh went down fighting to another Italian John Oyebode, seeded third, 11-6, 10-12, 9-11, 7-11, 8-11. Anirban will play veteran Sharath Kamal in the opening round.