The Hindu : Sport / Table Tennis : Indian men gear up for Pro-Tours

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Saturday, Jun 16, 2007
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Indian men gear up for Pro-Tours

Sports Reporter

CHENNAI: After a reasonably good performance in the Commonwealth table tennis championships in Jaipur, the Indian men's team is gearing up for a much more gruelling assignment, the Pro-Tour.

In two-and-a-half months, the Indian team, competing in singles, will take part in three tournaments in Japan, China and USA (U.S. Open is an invitation Open and not a Pro-Tour event).

The women's team will not take part in any of the Pro-Tours mentioned above, as some of the players have been unable to renew their passports, M.C. Chowhan, Secretary-General, Table Tennis Federation of India, said.

Preferring to skip the Volkswagen Open in Korea, which is currently on, India will compete in Japan (June 21 to 24), China (June 28 to July 1) and USA (August 4 to 8).

Explaining the reasons to The Hindu as to why India missed the Volkswagen Open, Subhajit Saha, the former National champion, said from Kolkata, "we had an hectic season. We went to Germany for training. Then there was the World championship in Zagreb followed by the Commonwealth championship. That's why we wanted to take rest."

A threat

Though nothing great can be expected from the players, one man, A. Sharath Kamal, India's No.1, has the potential to create an upset or two.

Sharath understands the importance of Pro-Tours as he had reached the semifinals of the Brazil Open in 2006, which till date is his best-ever performance in a Pro-Tour. However, he missed the 2007 edition, as the visa formalities could not be completed on time.

"After the outbreak of yellow fever there we were told to get vaccinated, but we received the information quite late," Sharath, who lost around 14 points for not competing in the Brazil Open, said.

The team for Pro-Tour and U.S. Open: Men: A. Sharath Kamal, Soumyadeep Roy, Subhajit Saha, Anirban Nandi, A. Amalraj, Pathik Mehta, G. Jitender.

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