By IANS
Kolkata : About 500 players from across India, including stars like Sarath Kamal, Subhajit Saha and Mouma Das, will participate in the 69th Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championship, carrying Rs. 600,000 prize money, will start in Siliguri Jan 25.
The other top players who are participating in the men’s section are Soumyadip Roy, A. Amal Raj, Zubin Kumar while Poulami Ghatak, Mantu Ghosh, Neha Agarwal, K. Shamini, Mamta Prabhu and Soumi Mondal are taking part in the women’s section.
Announcing this here Thursday, West Bengal Urban Development Minister Ashok Bhattacharya said: “We will do our best to make the tournament a success. This is a prestigious meet for the North Bengal Table Tennis Association (NBTTA) that came into being two years back.”
The sport in West Bengal is ridden by factionalism with the breakaway NBTTA being formed in 2005 even as the West Bengal Table Tennis Association existed.
The championship, to be held at the Siliguri Municipal Corporation Indoor Stadium, will feature seven events. While the winner’s purse will be Rs. 140,000 for the men’s event, the women’s event will carry a purse of Rs. 90,000.
The total budget of the tournament, sponsored by Kolkata West International City, is Rs 4 million. Doordarshan will telecast the event live.