The hosts of domestic table tennis tournaments got a major shot in the arm when Stag International announced an annual package of ₹85 lakh towards sponsorships soon after the annual general meeting of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) at Gurugram on Sunday.
It was also decided here that Odisha will host the 80th senior national table tennis championships after a gap of 12 years. The state had hosted the event in 2001 and in 2006. It will be held in Cuttack in all probability.
The AGM also decided to continue with the existing ranking system for all categories sans men and women. It was decided that at any given point of time, seven tournaments will form basis for finalising the ranking points in the two sections.
Speaking on the occasion, the owners of equipment partners of TTFI — Rakesh Kohli and Vivek Kohli — said that they were offering a sponsorship amount of ₹10 lakh each for the five zonal events and two nationals (cadet and sub-junior and junior and youth) and ₹15 lakh for the senior nationals.
The Meerut-based manufacturers, who supply Stag equipment and apparels in over 150 countries, also announced State league in the metros. For the first season this year, they have chosen Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata and Lucknow to begin with. “We will include more states in the league from next year,” he said.
