Chinese paddlers would be among the top players who would be seen in action in the Reliance India Junior and Cadet Open Table Tennis Championship to be held at the National Sports Club of India at Worli here from October 16-20.
The event is being held in Mumbai after a gap of 30 years.
"It is an emotional moment for me. As a player, as a coach and as an administrator at district level, whenever I went to such events, I always wanted that some event should happen in Mumbai. When I visited NSCI about two years ago when it was getting ready, it gave us hope that this is one place where we could host an event," eight-time national champion and tournament director Kamlesh Mehta said
Apart from China and hosts India, Hong Kong, Iran, United Arab Emirates and Nigeria are the other countries who would be participating in the five-day event.
Asked why only six countries are taking part in the event, Mehta said, "This is an ITTF open ranking tournament. It is open to all the affiliated countries of ITTF that is more than 214 affiliated countries. The players who want to get ranking points, they participate in these tournaments.
"This tournament was alloted to us in August. For a tournament like this, it's a very short time. We reached out to as many countries as possible. At this time there are tournaments all over the world so everybody had set their calendars."
The tournament is a part of the ITTF's (International Table Tennis Federation) Global Junior Circuit and is being held under the auspices of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI), organized by the Mumbai City District Table Tennis Association (MCDTTA) and promoted by Evolution Sport.
It will feature 50 potential future domestic and international champions.
There are 12 events in which the boys and girls will compete in team and individual events in the junior and cadet categories.
