Achanta Sharath Kamal, Sathiyan and Manika Batra lead the charge at 83rd TT Nationals

83rd Table Tennis National Championships to take place in Shillong from April 18-25 2022

The national championships in Table Tennis will witness the best of the Indian talent giving their best on the table to win laurels for their state/Institution. All the notable players in the Table Tennis circuit are competing at the national championships

Thirty-eight men’s and 35 women’s teams have entered the fray, the largest ever in the history of Senior Nationals.

The Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) and the Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) are the two institutional teams that made the cut as title winners of the 2019 edition.

Source | TTFI

The women’s squad of the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB), bolstered by the return of Manika Batra, would look to redeem itself during the team events of the 83rd Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships getting underway at the SAI Training Centre.

The women’s team lifted the Jayalakshmi Cup last in the 2017 Nationals held at Ranchi, and at that time, Manika Batra was the youngest of the five-member squad.

In the subsequent edition, held at Cuttack, the PSPB women finished runners-up behind West Bengal, but when the paddler skipped the Hyderabad Nationals, they had to contend with the bronze medal.

Now with Manika leading the squad, one expects the PSPB to bounce back. In their endeavour, Manika will rely on Archana Kamath, Reeth Rishya, Krittwika Sinhay Roy and Madhurika Patkar.

The PSPB’s strength lies in the three national champions—Manika, Archana and Madhurika Patkar. Reeth and Krittwika, especially the former’s form, will also add teeth to their Cup campaign.

In the men’s team championship, PSPB is the team to beat. But it is easier said than done. The squad, with the creamy layer of paddlers in A. Sharath Kamal, G. Sathiyan, Harmeet Desai, Sanil Shetty and Manav Thakkar, are the firm favourites to retain the Barna Bellack Cup.

But runners-up Delhi, Telangana, Gujarat, Bengal and Maharashtra have a young and experienced bunch of players to counter the PSPB’s threats and, on their day, can pose tough questions.

As for the singles events, of the 307 men and 243 women competing in the championships, the top 16 in the men’s section and eight in women have been given direct entry into the main draw. But for seeding, the top-50 world ranking was fixed as the benchmark.

Only three players—A. Sharath Kamal (No. 38), G. Sathiyan (No.39) and Manika Batra(No.48)—met the criteria and have been seeded No. 1 and 2 (men) and No. 1 (women) accordingly.

Source | olympics

The defending champions in the mens singles event is Sathiyan Gnansekaran while in the women singles it is Manika Batra.

The prize money for the mens singles winner is INR 275,000 while the runner up will pocket INR 137,500. In the women singles category the winner will get INR 180,000 with the runner up getting INR 90,000. The total prize money of the competition is INR 1,349,600.

The entries in men’s and women’s doubles have been limited to two per team, per gender for states and the institutions one each, as has been the practice.  However, in mixed doubles, four and two pairs, respectively, have been allowed. The paired events will be conducted on a knockout basis.