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panjim: Table tennis and tourism promises to make for a happy fusion come February.
The World Table Tennis (WTT) Series event has been awarded to India and Goa will be the setting for the its top tier WTT Star Contender event Goa 2023, scheduled from February 27 – March 5.
The venue will be the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor stadium where over 200 players and over 500 officials will be involved in the week-long event.
The tournament is designed to offer potential elite players a chance to compete against the world’s best – an opportunity that would be out of reach, given the challenges in expenditure and travel in the international circuit. The project also serves as a package for top TT players with a penchant for touring.
It was seen as an opportunity by both the Government of Goa and Stupa Analytics, promoters of the event who expressed their expectations and confidence of the event’s success at a media conference on Thursday.
Rohan Khaunte, Minister of Tourism, Government of Goa said, “Goa is the nation’s biggest tourist destinations and I am overjoyed to welcome WTT to our shores as they announce WTT Contenders Goa 2023 as the first event on its Calendar.
Also present at the event were Matt Pound, Managing Director, WTT, Dr Geeta Nagvenkar, Executive Director, Sports Authority of Goa, Megha Gambhir, Co-Founder & CEO, Stupa Analytics and Deepak Malik, Co-Founder & Chief Sports, Stupa Analytics, and former India coach.
The WTT Series is the official professional TT series of events, with the world’s best players facing each other off in various tournaments with the four Grand Smashes being the ultimate prize to win.
The six Star Contender events pit 48 men and women in the singles main draws, with the top 30 world ranks eligible to play, four among whom will compulsorily have to be in the world top 20.
Pound, an Australian, said, “The WTT Star Contender in Goa will showcase the new brand of TT to the Indian people.
The Star Contender events also boast of a 16-team doubles main draw and an eight-team mixed doubles main draw. Eight qualifiers each in singles and four in doubles also get to challenge with the best while host countries are also provided wild-card entries.
In keeping with that objective, Goa’s Wesley do Rosario will feature in the WTT Contenders Goa 2023.
According to Gambhir, Goa was quite simply a logical choice once the event was awarded to India. “Players, especially from Europe, the US and South America are familiar with Goa’s image as a tourist destination,” she said.
