STTA president leads national team as manager at international tournament

SAGAR CHHETRI 
GANGTOK, 08 Feb: Sikkim Table Tennis Association president, CK Basnet, has expressed that participating in the ITTF Global Cadet Challenge & Global Junior Circuit Finals at San Juan, Puerto Rico in USA last month was a ‘valuable learning experience’.
Mr Basnet, who is also the associate vice-president of Table Tennis Federation of Indian [TTFI], led the Indian Table Tennis Team as manager in the ITTF Global Cadet Challenge & Global Junior Circuit Finals, which was held at San Juan, Puerto Rico in USA from 17 to 27 January.
It was also the first and a rare opportunity for him to lead the Indian team to such a prestigious international event. In the competition, Abhishek Yadav and Rony Maria won gold medals in the team event for the country, while Soumajit Ghosh bagged a bronze medal along with cash prize of $1500.
While sharing his experience in a press conference today, Mr Basnet stated that it was a wonderful experience for him to be a part of a prestigious international event. He further stated that it was a great opportunity for him to see and learn the techniques and game of international players from 31 participating countries. He added that it was a proud moment for him to lead the India team in the event and further added that the team members came back with flying colours.
Mr Basnet stated that his experience would help the state table tennis fraternity and also planned to share his experiences with the paddlers in the state to encourage them to be dedicated and serious with their game to reach such international level. He also expressed his gratitude to the TTFI general secretary, Dhan Raj Chowdhary, on behalf of the STTA for providing him the opportunity.
STTA vice-president, CL Sharma mentioned that it was a big achievement for the STTA and the entire table tennis fraternity of the state. He further mentioned that such opportunity to the STTA president was the recognition of the continuous activities of the STTA for the development of table tennis in the state. The function was also addressed by the STTA general secretary, Karma Bhutia.
Likewise, Sikkim Veterans Table Tennis Association [SVTTA] president, SB Subba, congratulated Mr Basnet for leading the country in a prestigious international event on behalf of the association and paddlers of the country.