Sport - Table Tennis   

The Chinese Wall as strong as ever

By A. Joseph Antony

HYDERABAD Sept. 1. The cold winds from Europe could have at best made a few cracks in the Great Wall of China. The world of table tennis has by and large been uni-polar with China brooking little challenge. That supremacy should continue in the ninth Asian junior championships, that get under way at the Kotla Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy indoor stadium on Tuesday.

Given its near complete dominance, it is widely believed that cutting short the game from the original 21-point format to the present 11 points was aimed primarily at pruning the unceasing power of the Chinese game. One lapse in concentration can cost the contest.

The solidity of the Chinese system stems from an unflinching focus on select sports, table tennis being one of the top priorities. State support leaves no want unfulfilled, until players turn professionals. China and World junior No. 2, Yang Xiao Fu reportedly earns the equivalent of US $ 1200 a month for playing in a highly organised league.

Add to these the secrecy surrounding the training, which has more than the dash of mystique associated with the orient. The proliferation of paddlers across the country and the above factors have ensured the wealth of talent is seemingly endless. Yang for instance takes on the seniors, whenever they allow him.

As Table Tennis Federation of India General Secretary M.C. Chowhan pointed out at Saturday's press conference, players from the Far East who stood up to Chinese aggression, were either imports or of the same stock, their origins traceable to the mainland.

Traditional table tennis powers such as Korea and Japan have not been quite able to match China. At the last edition of these championships in Hong Kong, the Chinese and South Korean boys were winners and runners-up respectively, while on the distaff side, China was supreme and arch rival Chinese Taipei finished second.

For the Hyderabad event, India, placed in group B in both categories, faces UAE in the boys opening round and Indonesia among the girls. The lads from Hong Kong will be hard to beat in this pool, while the girls will not find the going easy against Korea and Indonesia.

The venue was plunged in darkness, blacking out Monday morning's practice sessions of the elite boys teams. APTRANSCO officials explained the power cut as necessary for maintenance work to ensure uninterrupted power supply for the entire duration of the tournament.

One hopes the power corporation will not pull the plug when the action gets under way on Tuesday. The six-day meet will be declared open by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday at 10 a.m.

For the table tennis enthusiasts, this is a feast few can resist, especially with entry free.

The groupings:

Boys: Group A: Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Chinese Taipei, Kuwait. Group B: India, Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates, Iran, Bangladesh.

Girls: Group A: Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Jordan. Group B: Korea, Indonesia, India, Macau.

Indian teams

The Indian teams for the Asian Junior table tennis championships have been announced by M.C. Chowhan, Secretary General, Table Tennis Federation of India here.

Boys: Sourav Chakraborty, Arunav Ganguly, Davesh Karia, Subhadeep Das, Pathik Mehta, A. Amal Raj, Sameer Prabhu, Jayant Chandra. Cadets: Davesh Karia, Aniket Koparkar, Sanil Shetty.

Girls: Nandita Saha, Sushmita Roy, Mousumi Paul, Madhurika Patker, Anushree Saha, S. Sangeetha, Soumi Mondal. Cadets: Salankara Mahalanobis, Pallavi Kundu, Neha Aggarwal.

Manager: P. Viswanath. Coaches: V.K. Agarwal, Praveen Ojha, Tapan Chandra, Mrs. Madhu Dewan.

Calendars released

The international and national calendars were released by the Table Tennis Federation of India's General Secretary, M.C. Chowhan here on Monday.

International calendars: September 11-14: China Open; December 14 to 21: World junior championships at Santiago, Chile; March 1 to 7, 2004: World Championships in Qatar; June 2004: Commonwealth championships in Malaysia; December: World junior championships in Japan.

National calendars: September 14 to 17: National ranking championships (south), Chennai; Sep. 22 to 26: Inter-institutional championships, Hyderabad; October first week: prize money tournament for men, Mumbai; November 27 to December 3: Junior Nationals, Kochi; December 10 to 14: National ranking (central), Baroda; December 17 to 21: National ranking (east), Kolkata; December 26 to January 1: Sub junior Nationals, Pondicherry; January 4 to 11: Youth National Games, Bangalore.

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