Memories: India's Star Player, Sujay Ghorpade

Ex-international and world ranked player of India, Sujay Ghorpade, played for Cantebury (New Zealand) and helped them win the National Championship in 2001 beating Auckland. Sujay's brother, Kishore, is also based in New Zealand.

Abhay Prashal in ITTF list of World Table Tennis hot spots

 Abhay Prashal Indoor stadium, situated in Indore, has been included in the ITTF list of World TT hot spots.
This is the only venue from India. There are three locations in the USA alone.

Here's the complete list.

Werner Schlager Academy Schwechat, Austria
Activity: ITTF With the Future in Mind / London 2012 Practice Partner: Grade A

Liebherr Masters College Ochsenhausen, Germany
Activity: ITTF With the Future in Mind / London 2012 Practice Partner: Grade A

CAR Sant Cugat Barcelona, Spain
Activity: Research / Talent development Practice Partner: Grade B

Laszlo Ormai Training Centre Budapest, Hungary
Activity: ITTF With the Future in Mind / London 2012 with female priority Practice Partner: Grade A/B

Swedish International TT TC Köping, Sweden
Activity: ITTF With the Future in Mind / London 2012 Practice Partner Grade A/B

Guangzhou Table Tennis Association Training Centre, Guangzhou
Activity: ITTF With the Future in Mind / Nanjing Youth Olympic Games 2012 Practice Partner: Grade A

INSEP Paris France
Activity: ITTF With the Future in Mind / London 2012 Practice Partner: Grade A

Stiga Training Centre Copenhagen, Denmark
Activity: ITTF With the Future in Mind / London 2012 Practice Partner: Grade A/B

Close to Karlsson Falkenberg, Sweden
Activity: ITTF With the Future in Mind / London 2012 Practice Partner: Grade A/B

CREPS de Lorraine Lorraine, France
Activity: Sub-Center INSEP B Practice Partner: Grade B

CREPS de Talence Talence, France
Activity: Sub-Center INSEP B Practice Partner: Grade B

Abhay Prashal Stadium Indore, India
Activity: ITTF Prospect Development Practice Partner: Grade B

Brazilian National Training Centre São Paulo, Brazil
Activity: ITTF Prospect Development Practice Partner: Grade B

Centro de Treino Porto - Gaia Porto, Portugal
Activity: ITTF Prospect Development Practice Partner: Grade B/C

Madeira Training Centre Madeira, Portugal
Activity: ITTF Education Special events Practice Partner: Grade B/C

Auckland Table Tennis Association Training Centre Auckland, New Zealand
Activity: Continental Development Aspect Practice Partner: Grade B/C

Canadian National Table Tennis Training Centre Ottawa, Canada
Activity: Continental Development Aspect Practice Partner Grade B/C

CAR Bogota Bogota, Colombia
Activity: Continental Development Aspect Practice Partner Grade C/D

ICC Table Tennis Center Milpitas California, USA
Activity: Untapped Market – ITTF Hopes Practice Partner: Grade Youth, Junior A/B

The Top Spin San Jose California, USA
Activity: Untapped Market – ITTF Hopes Practice Partner: Grade Youth, Junior A/B

Lily Yip Table Tennis Center New Jersey, USA
Activity: Untapped Market – ITTF Hopes Practice Partner: Grade Youth, Junior B

Ormesby Table Tennis Club Middlesbrough, England
Activity: ITTF Education Special Events Practice Partner: Grade Youth, Junior B

Tsunami and Table Tennis

Two men play Table Tennis even as they were recovering from the devastating tsunami that hit Indonesia in 2005.
We pray for the tsunami affected in Japan 2011 and hope that they recover to a normal life soon. Wish safety for all other countries that are at threat.

ITTF Annual General Meeting and Board of Directors' Meeting

The details of ITTF's AGM and BOD meeting are available at the following location:
http://www.ittf.com/world_events/PDF/English_report_final_2011.pdf

Britain Table Tennis team makes it to the London Olympics 2012

It's official! The Britain team will feature at the 2012 London Olympics. The Men's and Women's team were given three host nation qualification places.

Earlier, there was a controversy and the British Olympic Association (BOA) had asked the British Table Tennis Federation (BTTF) to prove its ability (read medal winning prospects). It now appears that the Federation was able to demonstrate its potential. The British Table Tennis team had not managed to qualify from the various international events.

BOA CEO, Andy Hunt is now satisfied and said that the BTTF had demonstrated that they have laid "solid foundations to maximize the opportunity of competing at a home games."

US Table Tennis trials for Pan Am and National Team

M Jagadish

The trials for the US teams for Pan Am and National team were conducted at the Topspin club, San Jose, CA

The following players made the final cut:

Pan Am Team Men: Mark Hazinski, Yiyong Fan, Timothy Wang
Pan Am Team Women: Ariel Hsing, Lily Zhang, Erica Wu

World Team Men: Mark Hazinski, Yiyong Fan, Timothy Wang, Adam Hugh
World Team Women: Ariel Hsing, Lily Zhang, Erica Wu, Prachi Jha

See this video of Ariel Hsing playing with one of the World's most wealthiest and investing wizard, Warren Buffet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OoodoU0wNw&feature=related
Video courtesy: tanzaniasafari

2011 US Open Table Tennis Tournament

M Jagadish

The US Open Table Tennis Tournament will be held from June 30-July 4 2011 at the Frontier Airlines Center Hall, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Last year, a huge contingent of Indian players participated. The golden crown was won by Sharath Kamal.

Contact Editor for information on Entry forms.

British Olympic Association wants Table Tennis players to perform

M Jagadish
Andy Hunt, CEO of the British Olympic Association (BOA) wants the Table Tennis players to prove themselves before they travel to the Olympic games of 2012.

The British players are training hard from the last couple of years to make their Olympic dreams come true. Hunt hinted that a decision on the Table Tennis Players' inclusion in Britain's Olympic squad is still pending.

Hunt was speaking to BBC. He was not convinced with the presentation and wants a few more questions answered and some more information from the officials.

There is still no date for the decision by BOA regarding the Table Tennis players' automatic inclusion.

(Players in the pictures are Paul Drinkhall and Darius Knight)

India's top Table Tennis Marriage of the season

M Jagadish
Soumyadeep Roy and Poulami Ghatak's wedding was conducted with great pomp and show. Many Table Tennis players attended the important occasion.

Player portrait: Dr. Ashutosh V. Bapat, M.D., F.A.C.C.

Name: Dr. Ashutosh V. Bapat, M.D., F.A.C.C.

Achievements: National Level Table Tennis Player from Karnataka

Currently a practicing Physician in the USA.