Chennai: Mandaveli to get indoor table tennis court in a month

CHENNAI: Soon, residents in and around Mandaveli, Mylapore, Foreshore Estate and Santhome will find a quality table tennis stadium just a short walk away from their homes.
Greater Chennai Corporation has set up an indoor stadium, with five TT tables, on the Alphonso ground on South Canal Bank Road in Mandaveli, just beside the Tholkappiar Poonga. The civic body plans to open the facility in a month’s time and is looking for an agency to run the facility.
While patrons will be charged monthly for use of the facility, its operation and maintenance will be entrusted with the agency. “A tender will be floated to identify an agency to handle maintenance for the next five years,” an official said. Patrons will be charged Rs 1,000 as monthly fee and will have time slots given for play.
Children studying in public schools and children from economically backward sections of the society can use the facility free of cost and two slots will be earmarked everyday for the purpose.
As per the corporation’s plan, up to eight slots can be booked a day and a maximum ten players can play at a time. Hence, up to 80 players can utilise the facility everyday.
Based on this, GCC has projected a revenue of Rs 40,000 every month, 25% of which will go to the civic body. The estimate puts GGC’s revenue from the facility at Rs 1.2 lakh a year.
An official said the time slots have not yet been finalised but it is likely to start from 10am. The tables will also be open to academies to train upcoming champion players, the official said.