Istvan Jonyer, 67 year old former 4 time World TT Champion from Hungary and Swidish 1991 World Champion Jorgen Persson ( 50+ group) are among the top players taking part in the World Veterans Table Tennis Championship which begins in Las Vegas today. About 5000 players in different age groups above 40 years in Men and Women from 99 countries will be taking part in this tournament.
Sunil Babras
From India a big group of players have reached the tournament venue according to our sources. From Mumbai, Thane & Pune about 25 to 30 players will be playing this tournament and prominent among them are Former internationals Sunil Babras( 50+) & Suhas Kulkarni ( 65+). Yogesh Desai the current Veterans (65+) National Champion has already received red carpet welcome, with his article appearing in the Publication released by the organizers.
Yogesh Desai
Dr.Nitin Toshniwal( 50+), Prakash kelkar (60+), Dinkar Selarka(60+) ,Mangal Saraf ( W 60+), Rajesh Singh(40+), Deepak Dudhane(65+) Rajesh Mudam(50+), Atmaram Gangarde(50+) and many others are big contenders from Mumbai. In the last World Veterans Championship in 2016 Prakash Kelkar had entered last 16 and therefore has raised more hopes for medal.
Prasad Naik
Some enthusiastic players from Mumbai, like Jitu Mawani and ace photographer and finest TT players have already started posting live photos taken by them at the venue about the inaugural function, which shows their passion towards this game.
Prakash kelkar
Many other top level players from India could not participate in this tournament due to high cost involved.
By the way, there is no sponsorship or support coming from their State TT Associations or TTFI. Few enthusiastic players were disappointed because of refusal of Visa. magzmumbai wishes all the participants from India a grand success in their respective events.