Paddlers from West Bengal dominated the team championship, winning the sub-junior girls and cadet boys titles. They also picked up the cadet boys singles and sub-junior girls doubles crowns. J. R. Shridharan reports.
The 70th National sub-junior table tennis championship, held in Vijayawada recently, saw the effective introduction of water glue to paste the rubber padding to the racquets — in place of the banned toxic solvent — for the first time at this level. And much to the satisfaction of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) administrators, the young paddlers, by and large, complied with the rule.
Mr. Ghosh, an international umpire from Bengal, was deputed by the TTFI to check the racquets of the players at random. And those who violated the rule were given a stern warning.
“Since the new rule was introduced for the first time at the sub-junior level, we restricted ourselves to just warning and counselling the offending players. We rejected a couple of racquets and made the players play with another racquet,” said S. Ganesan, the chief referee of the tournament.
However, the biggest problem faced by the players and the state associations was the availability of the water glue. “The rubbers, plys and balls supplied by the federation to the respective state associations are usually dispatched through couriers and cargo carriers. As the transporters are a bit hesitant to transport the glue as they feel it is inflammable, the associations are sending their representatives to collect the glue from the federation. As the usage of water glue has been made mandatory, the federation should make it freely available in the market,” said S. M. Sultan, the TTFI vice-president.
The use of water glue did have an impact on the outcome of some of the matches, which explains how underdogs Kerala and Andhra Pradesh stormed into the final of the cadet girls team championship. But the TTFI officials are fully in favour of the new glue. “The chemical solvent is not only hazardous to the health of the players, it also pollutes the environment. It also increases the travelling speed of the ball, thus restricting the rallies,” said Ganesan.
The chief referee was of the view that the standard of the game in the country was improving gradually owing to the exposure trips that the players were getting right from the cadet level. Also, training under a foreign coach has helped the players a lot.
The TTFI has also introduced a new rule that permits the host association to field more players for the promotion of the game. “As many as 24 players from Andhra Pradesh played in four categories (sub-junior boys and girls, cadets boys and girls) in Vijayawada as against the 12 that were permitted earlier. The new rule is a boon to the host associations as the second string players will get the opportunity to play against quality paddlers,” said Sultan.
The ‘age’ issue that haunts a majority of sports in the country did raise its ugly head at the sub-junior Nationals and the administrators blamed the parents for this.
Tibor Bednar, the coach of the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board Academy, based in Ajmer, assessed the progress of his trainees. He also had his eyes on other talented players.
“Mr. Bednar was appointed by the federation primarily to do away with the problem of communication gap we had with the Korean and Chinese coaches earlier. The trainees are comfortable with Bednar as they are able to interact with him without the help of translators,” Sultan pointed out. Based on age, fitness, agility and technique, Bednar has short-listed players to impart better training to them in the future. “He was not impressed with players using the anti-rubber. Paddlers using anti-rubber cannot shine at the international level as it restricts their game,” said Sultan.
West Bengal paddlers dominated the team championship, winning the sub-junior girls and cadet boys titles, while North Bengal and Kerala emerged champions in the sub-junior boys and cadet girls respectively.
In the individual championships, Rajib Sarkar of North Bengal outplayed Abhishek of PSPBA 11-6, 11-9, 13-11, 11-5 in the sub-junior boys final. In the sub-junior girls final, Mallika Bhandarkar (Maharashtra ‘A’) scored a hard fought win over Reeth Rishya (Tamil Nadu) 11-9, 13-11, 11-4, 6-11, 7-11, 6-11, 13-11.
Subhendu Shaw (West Bengal) and Anuska Dutta (North Bengal) lifted the cadet titles in their respective sections.
THE RESULTSTeam championshipSub-junior boys final: North Bengal bt West Bengal 3-0 (Subham Basak bt Sandipan Dey 11-3, 11-8, 11-9, 11-7, Rajib Sarkar bt Sandip Pal 11-6, 11-5, 11-9, 11-5, Rajib Sarkar & Subham bt Sandipan Dey & Sandip Pal 11-8, 11-8, 11-6).
Sub-junior girls final: West Bengal bt Maharashtra ‘A’ 3-2 (Sutirtha Mukherjee lost to Mallika 9-11, 11-7, 3-11, 8-11, Camelia Sil bt Senora D’Souza 11-8, 11-8, 8-11, 11-7, Sutirtha & Sil bt Mallika & Senora 11-7, 11-4, 11-5, Camelia Sil lost to Mallika 10-12, 5-11, 6-11, Sutirtha bt Senora 11-7, 11-8, 12-10).
Cadet boys final: West Bengal bt North Bengal 3-1 (Anirban Ghosh lost to Subhankar Sarkar 11-7, 7-11, 10-12, 9-11, Subhendu Shaw bt Mridangha Bhodro 9-11, 13-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-5, Subhendu Shaw & Anirban Ghosh bt Subhankar Sarkar & Mridangha Bhodro 8-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-7, Subhendu Shaw bt Subhankar Sarkar 11-8, 11-8, 11-6).
Cadet girls final: Kerala bt Andhra Pradesh 3-1 (Maria Rony bt Akshi 11-13, 11-9, 11-7, 11-7, Seraha Jacob lost to K. Spoorthy 5-11, 7-11, 9-11, Maria Rony & Seraha bt K. Spoorthy & Akshi 11-2, 11-8, 11-8, Maria Rony bt K. Spoorthy 7-11, 7-11, 13-11, 11-8, 11-5).
INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPSSub-junior boys final: Rajib Sarkar (NB) bt Abhishek Yadav (PSPBA) 11-6, 11-9, 13-11, 11-5.
Sub-junior girls final: Mallika Bhandarkar (Mah ‘A’) bt Reeth Rishya (TN) 11-9, 13-11, 11-4, 6-11, 7-11, 6-11, 13-11.
Cadet boys final: Subhendu Shaw (WB) bt Utkarsh Gupta (Del) 11-9, 8-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-8.
Cadet girls final: Anuska Dutta (NB) bt K. Spoorthy (AP) 8-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-3, 11-2.
Sub-junior boys doubles final: Sudhanshu Grover & Abhishek Yadav bt Rajib Sarkar & Subham Basak 11-5, 11-9, 11-6.
Sub-junior girls doubles final: Camelia Sil & Sutirtha Mukherjee (WB) bt Narasimha Priya & Reeth Rishya 10-12, 11-8, 11-6, 11-9.
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