19th National Veterans TT Champ concludes at Paljor Stadium

SAGAR CHHETRI
GANGTOK, 24 Feb: The closing ceremony of the 19th edition of National Veterans Table Tennis Championship 2012 hosted by Sikkim for the first time was held at Paljor Stadium indoor gymnasium hall this afternoon.
The five-day championship was organized by the Sikkim Veterans Table Tennis Association and was inaugurated by the Sports and Youth Affairs Minister, NK Pradhan, on 20 February.
A total of 38 teams from 24 states, 1 Union Territory of Chandigarh and 4 institutions from across the country took part in the championship. A total of 790 paddlers participated under various categories of 40 plus, 50 plus, 60 plus, 65 plus and 70 plus for men’s and women’s.
Tourism Minister, Bhim Dhungel was present as the chief guest of the closing ceremony, who also declared the closing of the championship.
Indian Veterans Table Tennis Association general secretary, Titus C Philipose appreciated the hospitality and organization of the championship in an enthusiastic manner in the state. He also congratulated the host state and the players from different parts of the country for participating in the championship in the right spirit.
The closing ceremony was also addressed by the SVTTA president, SB Subba and SVTTA general secretary, Kuber Bhandari, who expressed their gratitude to the Chief Minister for supporting the championship and for promoting sports and games in the state.
The closing ceremony also featured the final matches of Men’s singles 40-plus and Women’s singles 40- plus categories.
In an interesting and contesting match, Harsh Chopra of Haryana defeated Nupur Santra of West Bengal in the deciding game of the best of five matches of men’s singles. In women’s singles, Sonal Joshi of Gujarat beat Mantu Murmu of West Bengal in straight sets.
The function was also attended by Political Advisor to the CM, KN Rai, who is the chief patron of SVTTA, ADGP Sikkim Police, SD Negi, who is the chief advisor of SVTTA, along with president, RG Lyngdoh, and general secretary, Chiranjeev Chaudhary, of North East Table Tennis Forum and STTA president, CK Basnet among others.