CHENNAI: Some of India's elite table tennis players will assemble in Sonepat for a national camp early next month. The camp, including the likes of A Sharath Kamal, will be the second national camp to be organised by the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) amid the coronavirus pandemic. The first one, which ran for over 40 days, finished in December.
However, this camp too, will be without the likes of G Sathiyan and Harmeet Desai. Among the women paddlers, Manika Batra is not expected to be present but the others have made themselves available.
"The dates of the camp are from (February) 2-13," Sharath told this daily. "But I doubt it will begin from the 2nd because 1st only they will get the approval. 2-13 is the official dates of the camp."
The camp will be followed by the national championships, to be held in Panchkula. "They start of with the women (15-19 February) followed by the men (February 20-23)."
The 38-year-old is looking forward to returning to competition after nearly 10 months. "Getting back to competitive action is such a relief," he said. After they finish, all of them will fly off to Doha for four events, including the Olympic qualifiers.