Jalandhar, April 23: The Jalandhar District Table Tennis Association (JDTTA), which hosts the 29th National Masters Table Tennis Championships-2022 at the Indoor Stadium in the PAP Complex from tomorrow, celebrated World Table Tennis Day on Sunday at 6 p.m. with the presence of officials from the Table Tennis Federation of India.
Marking the occasion as a nice gesture, Prem Choffla of the Organising Committee lauded the efforts of JDTTA as it used the opportunity of the assembled guests from different parts of the country who will be competing in the Masters’ Championships.
Nearly 700 men and women players will compete for supremacy and top medals in 36 categories from 40+ up to 80+ in the Masters’ championships as allotted to JDTTA by the Indian Veterans Table Tennis Committee (IVTTC), making the celebration on World Table Tennis Day invigorating. Talking on the occasion, Choffla respected their enthusiasm and commended the participants for making it to Jalandhar. “You all have made my day, and celebrating World Table Tennis Day in your midst has made me proud and enhanced my conviction in the adage that age is just a number.”
Kamlesh Mehta, Secretary General of TTFI, said, “TTFI and its affiliates have been regularly celebrating the Day in a manner possible to forge a friendship and bring awareness about the sport. Until last year, ITTF used to celebrate it on April 6. However, from this year onwards, ITTF has shifted the date to April 23 as a mark of respect and to pay tributes to Ivor Montagu, the founder and first president of the ITTF, on his birth date,” adding, “Montagu conducted the first World Table Tennis Championships in 1926.”
The chief guest, Sardar Sukhdev Singh, marked the celebration by releasing also released two doves and wished for peace and harmony in the world. The chairman of AGI Sports Institution hailed the efforts of Pankaj Sharma, the convenor of IVTTC of the Masters’ event, to have come up with the idea of celebrating World Table Tennis Day with novelties. He appreciated the presence of children, dancing to the tune of music and enjoying it thoroughly.
The JDTTA also felicitated the Indian medal winners of the World Veterans Championships held in Oman early this year. With the presence of children in their midst, it was appropriate that the organisers had arranged a cake cutting and a musical programme by Jas Karan Singh and Party and thrown a gala dinner in honour of the guest and other participants.
The championships will be inaugurated tomorrow at 11 a.m. by M.F. Farooqui, IPS, ADGP of the State Armed Police. The matches in team events across categories will begin at 13 noon.
Share this content:
