Junior National TT from Nov 9

Defending champions Bengal start as hot favourites in both boys and girls sections in the 62nd Junior National Table-Tennis championship, beginning here on November nine.

About 24 teams (Boys) and 23 (Girls) will vie for honours in the six-day event to played at the Sri Kanteerava Indoor stadium.

Though the International Table Tennis Federation has approved 40 mm ball, the championship will be played in 38mm ball.

The players have not yet got used to the 40mm ball and they have been practising with the old one (38mm). Hence, It decided to go with the old ball, said N Ganesan, Chief referee.

He said the teams had been grouped into four and the top two qualify for the knock-out stage.

Group A : Bengal, Maharastra B, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Bihar.
Group B : Maharastra A, Delhi, Chandigarh, Gujarat, Pondicherry and Jammu and Kashmir.
Group C: Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa and Tripura.
Group D: Assam, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Goa.