A huge team from Jharkhand will represent the state in three separate national table tennis championships, two of which will be held later this month.
The team announced on Tuesday will compete in senior national meet (at Panchkula, Haryana from February 15 to 23), cadet and sub-junior nationals (at Indore, Madhya Pradesh from February 25 to March 6) and junior and youth nationals (schedule yet to be announced).
Archita, Aadhya and Anjali, along with Janvi Prasad of East Singhbhum, have also been selected in the girl’s sub-junior side. Pratik Agarwal (Hazaribag), Nitish Kumar Mehta, Anil Kumar Mehta (both from Garhwa) and Soumil from East Singhbhum have got the nod in the boy’s side.
The state girls’ junior squad comprises Saniya Banerjee, Samriddhi Shraddha, Khushi Kumari (all from East Singhbhum) and Suhani Sharma (Ranchi). Karan Raj (East Singhbhum), Dinesh Selvam, Satrunjay Chakravarty (both from Ranchi) and Aman Kumar Pal (Garhwa) are among the boys who have been picked.
Khushi Kumari, Saniya Banerjee (both from East Singhbhum), Suhani Sharma (Ranchi) have also been included in the state youth team for girls, besides Dhanbad’s Hemlata Sinku.
The boys in the youth side comprise Mrinmaya Pradhan, Sudhanshu Ranjan, PL Teja (all from East Singhbhum) and Hazaribag’s Kumar Shresth.
Shivaji Roy (West Singhbhum) and Ranchi paddlers Somir Chakraborty, Biswajit Kumar, Devesh Kumar and Sonath Chakraborty have been drafted into the state senior squad for the national meet. Chandni Kumari, Shruti Mahanand (both from East Singhbhum), Snehlata Sinku (Dhanbad) and Manisha Mukherjee have won slots in the women’s side.
Jharkhand State Table Tennis Association (JSTTA) general secretary Jay Kumar Sinha said they have tried to pick a balanced side which is expected to perform well in the national meets.
“The team was picked after a three-day selection trials held at JSCA International Stadium in Ranchi in December last year,” he said.
East Singhbhum District Table Tennis Association (ESDTTA) secretary Ujjal Chatterjee expressed satisfaction at the team selection. “Fifteen paddlers from our district have got the nod. We expect an impressive performance from them,” Chatterjee said.
The district association is trying to popularise table tennis in city schools.The Jamshedpur paddlers train at a cradle run by Tata Steel sports wing at JRD Tata Sports Complex.