The likes of Poulomi Ghatak or Soumyajit Ghosh are all set to inspire a whole lot of youngsters in the city while the champs take up paddles to vie for retaining the crown at the national meet.

With the 75th Senior National Table Tennis Championship being awarded to Patna, 600 and odd players of the game in the state are sweating it out to prove their mettle at the meet.

JD(U) MLC and Bihar Table Tennis Association president Sanjay Singh said: “It is a very good news for us that the Table Tennis Federation of India has selected Bihar to host the championship. It will boost the morale of our players.”

About the championship date, he said: “The date has not been finalised yet but we have zeroed in on the venue — indoor stadium of Patliputra Sports Complex at Kankerbagh.”

The stadium hosted the national table tennis championship in 2009 also.

Association secretary Mukesh Roy said: “We have already begun a camp — at Bihar Young Men’s Institute near Patna Medical College and Hospital — to make our players ready for the seven-day championship. At least 550 players from across the country will participate in singles, doubles and mixed categories.” Elaborating on the state’s potential at the meet, Roy said: “We have around 600 table tennis players but only five male and five female players will be chosen for the championship. As Bihar is hosting it, we can field two more players in each category.”