Chandigarh, February 15: Haryana Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal today inaugurated 82nd National Table Tennis Championships-2020 at Tau Devi Lal Sports Stadium, in Sector-3 Panchkula. This competition will be held from February 15 to 23, 2021. Women's singles competition will start from February 15 to 18, 2021 while a men's singles competition will be held from February 20 to 23, 2021.
Deputy Chief Minister and President, Table Tennis Federation of India and Haryana Table Tennis Association, Sh. Dushyant Chautala, Vidhan Sabha Speaker, Sh. Gian Chand Gupta and Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Sh. Anoop Dhanak and Municipal Corporation Mayor Sh. Kulbhushan Goyal were also present on the occasion.
Addressing the players at the inauguration ceremony, Sh. Manohar Lal said that it is a matter of great pride that this time the National Table Tennis Championships-2020 is being organized in Panchkula district. He said that the place where this competition is being held can also be called a sports village. He said that Tau Devi Lal Sports Stadium is a National Level Sports Ground, as it has all the facilities required to organize such big level tournaments.
The Chief Minister said that this year Haryana has also got the opportunity to organize Khelo India Games-2021, in which about 12,000 players from different states of the country will participate.
While praising the players of Haryana, the Chief Minister said that Haryana has its own place in the sports. Out of the total medals won by the players across the country, more than 50 percent are won by the players from Haryana. Through the Catch Them Young programme, efforts are being made to develop the interest of children in sports since childhood so that they can further bring laurels to the country and the state in the sports field. Besides this, sports nurseries are also being set up at various places in Haryana where players are being imparted training as per their interests. Similarly, apart from constructing state level, sports stadiums, sports stadiums have been built at the district and block levels as well.
Lauding, Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs, Sh. Sandeep Singh, the Chief Minister said that Sh. Sandeep Singh himself is an outstanding hockey player and also a gold medalist in the Olympics. He said that a prize amount of Rs. 6 crore is been given by the State Government for winning the gold medal in the Olympics. Apart from this, along with prize money in other sports, jobs in Class-I, Class-II and Class-III category are given on the basis of sports achievements of the players. Along with this, 10 percent reservation is given to players in class IV jobs too.
Recently in a bid to encourage sportspersons, the State Government has also decided to give an amount of Rs. 5 lakh for diet, training and capacity building to the sportspersons who have qualified in the Olympics. This decision would certainly prove beneficial for players who are financially weak, said the Chief Minister.
On this occasion, the Chief Minister also congratulated the players for giving their best performance in the competition. He said that in this competition, players will get an opportunity to learn from each other and they would be able to improve their performance in future as well.
Speaking on the occasion, Deputy Chief Minister, Sh. Dushyant Chautala who is also the President of Table Tennis Federation of India and Haryana Table Tennis Association said that in the last four years, the work of every single employee, coach and players of the Federation has resulted in promotion of table tennis in the State.
He said that in a bid to encourage National and International Level Table Tennis Players, UTT League is organized on the similar lines of IPL. As a result, India won eight medals in the Table Tennis category in Commonwealth-2018, which is a historic achievement. Apart from this, the Indian players, while performing well in the Asian Games, had won three medals for the country and this victory league is still going on. He said that there are seven such women players in the country, who have become champions at different levels in India in table tennis.
He said that the 82nd National Table Tennis Championships-2020, commencing from today, will be held till February 23, 2021 which will generate interest among the people in table tennis.
On this occasion, Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal and Deputy Chief Minister, Sh. Dushyant Chautala honoured seven women players who brought laurels to the country and the State in Table Tennis. These players include Manika Batra, Madhurika Suhas Patkar, Sutirtha Mukherjee, Anika Das, K. Shamini, Archana Girish Kamath and Suhana Saini.
Deputy Commissioner, Panchkula, Sh. Mukesh Kumar Ahuja, Commissioner of Police, Sh. Saurabh Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Sh. Mohit Handa, SDM, Sh. Rakesh Sandhu and other administrative and police officers were present on the occasion.