Table Tennis Association of Kerala to conduct three separate State championships from 2023

The TTAK has decided to conduct three different State championships from this year, with each zone (North, Central and South) hosting an event, in a move that is expected to reduce load on players.

Players like the talented Thrissur twins Tia and Trisha Mundenkurian, who played in four age groups at the recent State championship, will benefit in a big way from the TTAK’s new move to conduct three different State meets.

Tia and Tisha Mundenkurian did not have much of a break between matches in the Duroflex Kerala State table tennis championships which concluded at the Alappuzha YMCA on Saturday.

Since the 13-year-old twin sisters from Irinjalakuda played in four age categories – under-15, 17, 19 and women in singles and doubles apart from the team event – their matches were many, perhaps even 20 on some days.

“We got just two or three minutes gap between matches. After one match, immediately came the next. In the evenings, we couldn’t even move from the bed,” said Tia, in a chat with Sportstar, during the State championship at Alappuzha. And Tisha nodded in agreement.

This is because the Table Tennis Association of Kerala (TTAK) has been conducting one single State championship, which included all age categories, and placed a huge burden on players with a good chance of them getting injured.

The TTAK has now decided to conduct three different State championships from this year, with each zone (North, Central and South) hosting an event.

Schools State Championship

“Instead of one championship, we have now decided to have separate sub-junior, junior and senior State championship on different dates. The sub-junior championship will include under-11, 13 and under-15 age groups, while junior will have under-17 and under-19 and the senior championship will include an inter-corporate event which could increase the job prospects for our players,” Michael Mathai, the secretary of the TTAK, told Sportstar after the association’s executive committee meeting in Alappuzha on Saturday.

“The sub-junior and junior meets will also have inter-school State championships in every age group which come under them. The schools competition will be a team event with only the winning school of each district qualifying for the State meet.”