By Neha Aggarwal
Exposure for Indian athletes
India will be fielding a total of 23 boys and 23 girls and aims to give maximum exposure to the athletes. Table Tennis Federation of India’s Secretary General Dhanraj Choudhary said, “We are excited to bring back the Indian Junior and Cadet Open again in 2016. Although we are still struggling for more nations to participate in this premium junior event, we open arms to all the participants. The stadium has world class facilities and we will ensure a great hospitality for all participants.”
With maximum entries from the host country, Choudhary aims to provide valuable exposure for the Indian athletes. “46 players from India will be competing in this event, we hope they get good exposure and boost their confidence which will help in contributing towards the competitiveness of Indian table tennis. For a lot of youngsters, this will be their first international event, thus it provides valuable experience to them.”
Abhay Prashal Indoor stadium, is also the home for this season’s World Junior Circuit Finals in January 2017.
Top Indian players
16-year old Manav Vikash Thakkar, currently at No.40 in the World Junior Rankings will lead the Indian contingent for the junior boys. For the girls, Archana Girish Kamath, ranked no.47 in the World Junior Rankings, who is also considered as one of the most talented junior players from India in the recent times, will be leading the girls campaign.
Event information
Junior Boys and Junior Girls will play Teams, Doubles and Singles events. Cadet Boys and Cadet Girls will be playing in Team and Singles events. Team events will be played on the first three days and Singles and doubles on the last 2 days. Play commences at 9.30am on 7th September starting with Cadet Boys Team events.
