South Asian Youth Table Tennis Tournament from Thursday

Kathmandu: The South Asian Youth Table Tennis Tournament will begin in Kathmandu on Thursday.

A total of 85 table tennis players from six countries, including host Nepal, are participating in the tournament organised by the All Nepal Table Tennis Association. At a press conference held in Kathmandu on Wednesday, General Secretary of the Association, Kuber Prakash Singh, shared that all South Asian countries except Bhutan will participate in the tournament.

The four-day tournament, which follows the Asian Table Tennis Union’s annual calendar, will be held at the National Table Tennis Training Centre in Lainchaur, Kathmandu.

The tournament will see athletes compete for 14 gold medals in the U-19 and U-15 age groups in team events, singles, doubles and mixed doubles. The tournament also serves as a qualifying event for the Asian Junior Table Tennis to be held in Uzbekistan, table tennis head coach Mohandas Basukala said.

Accordingly, the teams that come first and second in the U-19 team competition will automatically be selected for the Asian Junior Table Tennis. Countries that are unable to qualify through this tournament will be provided with a ‘quota’ for participation through wild cards, with equal numbers of male and female players in the U-15 age group.