IN 2000 host Uttar Pradesh men claimed the bronze medal in the Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships in the State Capital, and this time too, they want to repeat the same feat at least before the home crowd when the 68th edition of the event takes place here in January (8-14) next.
The Uttar Pradesh Table Tennis (UPTTA) on Monday announced the 16 probables, including eight women, for the prestigious event.
Former national champion and ace paddler Kamlesh Mehta as well as a Chinese coach, currently posted in SAI Kolkata, are being approached through the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) to impart at least 10 days training to the UP players sometimes in December.
As far as the men’s team are concerned, the UPTTA has once again expressed faith among the veterans like Rahul Prakash, Parag Agarwal and Prashant Mishra, but youngsters like Anshul Garg (Youth Champion) and Piyush Bajpai (Junior Champion) have also been short-listed among the probables.
If everything goes according to the plan, the five-member men’s team will have Atin Rastogi, Zabarjeet Singh, Anil Sen, Anshul Garg and Rahul Prakash. “The two youngsters are very good and Anshul of Meerut before losing in the semi-finals of the State Championship at Meerut recently, beat almost all the top stars of the State,” said UPTTA secretary Arun Kumar Banerjee, adding, “Certainly, the two youths have all chances to make it to the team for the nationals.”
Among the women probables, the four new faces are Pooja Kohli, Prenika Verma, Shivani Pandey and Tripty Pandey. Finally, a four-member team would be selected after the camp in December.
{{/usCountry}}Among the women probables, the four new faces are Pooja Kohli, Prenika Verma, Shivani Pandey and Tripty Pandey. Finally, a four-member team would be selected after the camp in December.
{{/usCountry}}The UPTTA also announced teams for the 68th Sub Junior, Junior and Youth National-Inter State Table Tennis Championships to be held.
The Sub-junior Championship will be held from November 19 to 24 in Alleppey (Kerala), while the Junior Championship is slated from December 25 to 30 at Cuttack.
THE TEAMS
Sub-junior boy’s: Aditya Gaurav (Mrt), Kshitij Bisht (Lko), Harshit Jaiswal (Alld); Stand bye: Sudarshan Prabhakar (Vns).
Cadet boy’s: Aditya Gaurav (Mrt), Kshitijl Bisht (Lko), Arjun Kohli (Mrt); Stand bye: Mahendra Pal.
Sub-junior girl’s: Pooja Kohli (Mrt), Apoorva Bhatia (Lko), Sona Prabhakar (Vns); Stand bye: Diksha Rai (Lko).
Cadet girl’s: Diksha Rai (Lko), Ayushi Pandey (Lko), Pratiksha Yadav (Knp); Stand bye: Sama Bano (Stp).
Manager: KBL Srivastava (Hindalco); Coach: Sateyendra Pandey (Vns).
Junior Boy’s: Piyush Bajpai (Lko), Gaurav Khanna (Lko), Manish Yadav (Alld), Aditya Gaurav (Mrt); Stand bye: Mayank Tandon (Knp).
Youth boy’s: Anshul Garg (Mrt), Piyushl Bajpai (Lko); Stand bye: Akash Sharma (Alg).
Junior girl’s: Tripty Pandey (Alld), Kohli (Mrt), Shivani Pandey (Glp), Priya Gupta (Vns); Stand bye: Priyanka Shukla (Knp).
Youth girl’s: Shalini Sharma (Knp), Sita Verma (Knp); Stand bye: Pooja Kohli (Mrt).
Manager: Vinod Pandey (Gkp); Coach: Dhirendra Kumar (Knp).
Men: Atin Rastogi (Lko), Zaberjeet Singh (Lko), Anil Sen(Mrd), Anshul Garg (Mrt), Rahul Prakash (Lko), Parag Agarwal (Lko), Prashant Mishra (Lko), Piyush Bajpai (Lko).
Women: Shalini Sharma (Knp), Vineeta Singh (Knp), Sita Verma (Knp), Priyanka Shukla (Knp), Pooja Kohli (Mrt), Prenika Verma (Vns), Shivani Pandey (Gkp), Tripty Pandey (Alld).