The Hindu : Sport / Table Tennis : Weak teams get a new lease of life

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Wednesday, Jul 04, 2007
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Sport - Table Tennis

Weak teams get a new lease of life

KOCHI: Weak teams and players were often forced to a quick exit at the Kerala State table tennis championship the last few years. Pitted against ‘giants’, their campaign ended in a jiffy.

The Kerala Table Tennis Association (KTTA) has now come up with a new format which should make life a lot easier for the ‘weaklings’ at this year’s championship.

Under the new system, which was approved by the association’s Executive Committee here, and which will be implemented in the men’s and junior and sub-junior boys sections, the top two finishers of last year’s State Championship will not have to play the preliminary league this time but will get a direct entry into the second stage.

Three groups

The other teams will be divided into three groups with the top two qualifiers from each progressing to the second stage, also a league affair. The toppers of the second stage’s two groups will then meet in the final.

Similarly, the State’s top 16 ranked players will be given a direct berth into the second stage in the men’s, junior and sub-junior boys’ singles. The others will be divided into groups (likely to be 16) with the winner of each group advancing to the second stage, a 32-player knockout affair.

Play more matches

“Weak teams and players will have a chance to play more matches under this format instead of crashing out after the first round,” said N. Ganeshan, the KTTA Technical Committee Chairman.

The State championship, which will be held in Thiruvananthapuram from November 14 to 18, will also have a new inter-District event for youth boys and girls. This is in line with the national body TTFI which has introduced inter-State championships in this section.

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