Seamaster ITTF World Tour 2017 India Open is going to be country’s first ever World Tour event will be taking place in New Delhi from February 14-19. 11Even Sports Private Limited (ESPL) under the auspices of Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) have entered into a 10-year agreement with the Federation to develop the sport from the grassroots to the professional level had played a key role in bringing this prestigious tournament to India.
DRINKHALL Paul( England)
With a total prize money of USD 120,000 up for grabs, it will be the most lucrative TT tournament in the country ever. The India Open is part of the elite Seamaster2017 ITTF World Tour, with only 11 other countries hosting this event. Apart from Hungary that has already hosted the first leg in January, Qatar (Feb. 23-26), Japan (Jun. 16-18), Korea (Apr. 20-23); China (Jun. 22-25); Australia (Jun 29-Jul. 2); Czech Republic (Aug. 24-27); Austria (Sep. 1-3); Bulgaria (Sep. 7-10); Germany (Nov 10-12) and Sweden (Nov. 16-19 Nov) will see action at its highest level.
HARIMOTO Tomokazu (Japan)
This is the first time that an event of such high magnitude is taking place in India. The fact that the tournament is awarded to only 12 ITTF member nations around the world and India being one of them, itself positions India in an elite list. The tournament will see a rich field of players with as many as two top players from the men’s category vying it out for the top honours.
The tournament gives the Indian fans a rare opportunity to see their local heroes go up against the best in the world. Table Tennis despite being a popular sport across the globe has received luke warm response here. This tournament has the ability to pave the way for Indian fans to get more attached to the sport and help rise the fan following.
Indian table tennis in the last one year has quietly but consistently gone through a sea change of performance. Three Indian players, two men; Sharath Kamal (ranked 59), Saumyajit Ghosh (78) and one woman player in Manika Batra (91) are in top 100, something which has never happened since 1970. Not only so, in 2016 Indian Table Tennis also saw four Olympic representation something that had only happened in 1992 before this.
Indian team performances both in men and women have been worth mentioning in the last few years, especially when they won the World Championship and got themselves elevated o the Division 1 category, again a first in the history of Table Tennis in India. This year the teams have the opportunity to be part of the elite and prestigious Champions Division based on promotion/relegation system of ITTF and is confident of a stellar display.
Top four foreign players to watch out for
1) Dimitrij Ovtcharov (Germany) – Dimitrij Ovtcharov is the top seeded player in the Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour India Tour. Ovtcharov comes into the tournament at the back of a very good season.He has won the bronze medal in the team event at the Rio Olympics last year. The 28 year old seasoned campaigner has recently moved into the top five rankings and will start the tournament as the firm favorite. He has already seen success in India back in 2010, when he won the ITTF Pro Tour event. Ovtcharov has won multiple championships across the world. He is also an individual bronze medalist at the 2012 London Olympics apart from winning two team bronze medals in London Olympics as well as 2008 Beijing Olympics. He has also bagged the European championship gold medal a staggering eight times including six in team events.
2) Vladimir Samsonav (Belarus) – Ranked world no. 8 Vladimir Samsonav is easily the most experienced and accomplished player on the roster. He went all the way to the quarterfinals in the recently concluded Hungarian Open, underlining the fact that he is a force to reckon with even at 40 years. Amazingly, he is only the second paddler in the history of the game to stay in the Top 10 for 15 long years. He has also won a whopping 26 ITTF Pro Tour titles, the most by any player.
3) Paul Drinkhall (England) – The World No. 40 Brit is one of the most exciting players on the India Open’s roster. He is a five times national champion from England and is the third player from England to have made for the last 16 of Olympics. He also broke his country’s dry spell at the finals of the ITTF World Tour since 1996 and became the first English player in 18 years to qualify for the event. He has attained great success during his last visit to India when he won the silver medal in the team event and bronze event in mixed doubles event. He would definitely be looking forward to continue his winning streak in India this time around at the Indian Open too.
4) Harimoto Tomokazu (Japan) – The 14 year old Japanese paddler is a child prodigy in its truest term. He is one of the fastest growing players in the ITTF circuit and at this tender age has already made it to the top-100. He is currently ranked 64 in the world and has the potential to the best in the business. He became the youngest world champion last year and will be eager to maintain his solid run of form in the senior circuit as well and Table Tennis fans in India will surely witness some serious fast paced TT on display when he takes the table.
BRIEF ON INDIAN PLAYERS
1) Sharath Kamal – Ranked at 59, he is one of the two Indian players to be in the top 100 of the world rankings. He is also the first Indian to win the singles title of an ITTF Pro Tour in Egypt in 2010. He also captained the national team in the same event which beat the favourites and nine-time champions England. Sharath also won the US Open Table Tennis Championship in Michigan in 2010. He is a regular in Germany in the Bundesliga where he has shined above all other players with consistent performances. He has represented the country in the Commonwealth Games numerous times and has won gold in 2006 & 2010. The lad from Tamil Nadu also bagged the National Title for the seventh time, second most titles after veteran of the game, Kamlesh Mehta who has won it for 8 times.
2) Soumyajit Ghosh – Soumyajit is the Indian prodigy the country had been looking for a long time and has constantly broken records. He is the youngest Indian player to have qualified for the Olympics at London in 2012. He also became the youngest national champion at the age of 19 when he beat Sharath Kamal. He had turned heads for the first time when he lead Indian side to win the title in the Brazil Open in the U-21 category.
3) Manika Batra- Raked 91,she is the only Indian player who is in the top 100 in the world rankings. She has made heads turn with her looks off the pitch and her game on the table. After refusing modelling offers in her teenage, she has risen up the ranks in India as well as internationally. Her best international achievement so far had been at the 12th South Asian Games with three gold’s and one silver medal. She also went on to represent the country in the Rio Olympics and had also played a key part in helping the Indian team win the Division 1 Title post the World Table Tennis Championship win in March, 2016.
4) Madhurika Patkar – The 29 year old Mumbai paddler will come into the tournament at the back of a great win in the senior nationals. She beat the experienced Poulomi Das in the finals to win her first senior national title. She will be buoyed by her success in the tournament and will be one of the forces to reckon with in the tournament.
About 11Even Sports Pvt. Ltd.
11Even Sports Private Limited (ESPL) is a Mumbai based company exclusively formed for the promotion and development of the game of Table Tennis in India. The Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) has entered into a 10-year agreement with ESPL to develop the sport from the grassroots to the professional level.
ESPL is headed by Vita Dani as Chairman and former players and face of Table Tennis, Kamlesh Mehta as the Director of 11Even Sports Private Limited (ESPL), under the auspices of TTFI is committed to increase the footprint of Table Tennis in India. ESPL aims to take the love for Table Tennis beyond courts, make it mainstream and redefine the standards of the game. ESPL has won the bid to organize the first ever ITTF (International Table Tennis Federation) World Tour Event in India, the India Open in February 2017.
ESPL has previously supported 5 National Ranking Tournaments, 2 National Championships & 2 International Tournaments. ESPL has also successfully executed the Mumbai Super League, the Inter School State Championship across 19 states in 2015 & 28 states in 2016 and the National Inter School Championship in both 2015 and 2016.