NEW DELHI: The domestic table tennis scene is looking bleak due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) will have to wait for the international calendar before finalising its own. Because of the loss of time, the TTFI and state federations will have to try and squeeze in as many tournaments as possible in a short period of time. That effectively means a few state and national ranking tournaments might go for a toss.
A domestic calendar usually has five zonal ranking tournaments, three nationals, one inter-institution as well as a number of state-ranking tournaments and the various state championships.
The three national and the inter-institution meets will have to be played. This means the other events might see a reduction. In a Zoom meeting between the national body and the state units, the possibility of a truncated calendar was raised and most states agreed with that call.
“The possibility of not having ranking tournaments — both state and national — was broached and most likely that will be the case but we cannot confirm it now without preparing the national calendar. But all planning is being made in that regard,” TTFI secretary MP Singh said. Apart from Olympic hopefuls and top paddlers, most players depend on the national calendar but TTFI said efforts will be made to ensure no player suffers because of lack of tournaments.
“We will try and accommodate as many tournaments as possible and give players maximum exposure. These are difficult times and we are working towards finding the best solution. Points will be awarded as usual and state tournaments will see a lot of competition and it will be good for the game in the short term,” Singh added.
Apart from the truncated calendar, another issue the TTFI has to contend with is social distancing and the state and central government’s advisories on such things. Usually, the number of entries are very high for state and national ranking tournaments as well as age-group tournaments.
“Age group tourneys may be bifurcated for boys and girls to allow social distancing and ensure that safety parameters are met. Also,l players eligible to play in multiple categories like sub-junior and junior might be asked to play only one. The number of players who qualify for the zonals or nationals from the state level might be reduced. These were some of the options discussed.”
The UTT will pose another potential roadblock. Due to contractual obligations, they will have to be provided a slot in the national and international calendar and accommodating the league means even less time for the aforementioned competitions.