Mumbai, Sept 10:
Top juniors of the world, including world boys’ no. 2 Muramatsu Yuto from Japan and girls’ world no. 1 Doo Hoi Kem from Hong Kong will be seen in action at the 20th Reliance Asian Junior Table Tennis Championship here from September 12 to 16.
Also to be held concurrently with the juniors (under 18) would be the Asian Cadet (under 15) boys and girls championships here at the NSCI’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor Stadium.
There will be 14 competing countries in the junior boys event and 12, after some withdrawals, in the corresponding girls event. In the cadet boys, there will be paddlers from 13 nations and in the girls category, 11 teams are in fray.
The participating nations include China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, DPR Korea, Turkmenistan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Iran, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Qatar, besides hosts India, it was announced at a media conference today.
The top five teams will qualify for the ITTF World Junior Championships to be held in Shanghai, China from November 30 to December 7.
“This is indeed a historic occasion for Mumbai to be hosting such a prestigious championship,” Kamlesh Mehta, eight-time national champion and tournament director, said.
The championship is being organised by the Mumbai City District Table Tennis Association under the auspices of the Asian Table Tennis Union (ATTU), Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) and Maharashtra State Table Tennis Association (MSTTA).
The team championships will be held over the first two days followed by three days of individual events.
The categories include junior boys and girls singles, doubles, mixed doubles and team championships, cadet boys and girls singles and team championship.
China are the defending junior boys and girls champions, while Korea are junior boys runners-up and Japan are junior girls runners-up.
China will also be the defending cadet boys’ and girls’ champions, while Chinese Taipei are cadet boys runners-up and Japan are cadet girls runners-up. (PTI)
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