Gandhidham: The Boys U-15 Team competition at the UTT 87th Inter-State Sub-Junior and Cadet National Table Tennis Championships begins tomorrow at the M. P. Mittra Indoor Stadium, housed within the Haresh Sangtani Sports Complex, with a total of 32 teams set to battle for top honours.
West Bengal players arrive as clear favourites, topping the cumulative standings with 600 points and carrying the weight of expectations in the absence of a weakened PSPB Academy, the defending champions. The Bengal squad features a strong core in Aditya Das, Rishaab Chattopadhyay, Himon Kumar Mondal, and Rudranil Jana, giving them both depth and balance heading into the competition. Tamil Nadu (390 points) and Maharashtra (315) follow as the closest challengers, fielding competitive line-ups that could test Bengal’s consistency during the event.
Tamil Nadu will rely on the combination of J N Sanjey Arwindh, K Akshay Bhushan, Akash Rajavelu, and Tanmay Raghavan, while Maharashtra’s hopes rest on Prateek Tulsani, Nilay Pattekar, Param Bhiwandkar, and Aarav Vora. Both teams possess enough firepower to disrupt Bengal’s title defence if they find early momentum in the group stages.
Among the most closely watched sides, however, will be the hosts Gujarat, who are placed fourth with 182 points but bring significant promise through their line-up of Vivaan Dave, Dev Bhatt, Dwij Bhalodia, and Aarva Singhvi. Vivaan, a member of the gold-winning PSPBA team in the previous edition, adds a winning edge to the squad, and the rest of the lineup complements him with youthful energy and growing experience. With the event returning to Kutch after 13 years, Gujarat will look to draw heavily on home conditions, understandably very hot, and crowd support to push beyond their ranking.
Despite its legacy, the Academy team finds itself down the order in seventh spot, with a relatively new roster comprising Sathish Karmeghakannan, Viren Patil, and Dhrityaman Pandey, and may find it tough to match the depth of the top-ranked sides this time.
The competition format sees all 32 teams divided into eight groups for the initial phase, with seedings determined by the combined national ranking points of each team’s top two players. This structure ensures a balanced start while still leaving room for surprises as the knockout rounds approach.
Alongside the team event, matches in the Youth Boys U-11 and U-15 categories will run concurrently, with the U-15 doubles event scheduled on the second day and qualification rounds beginning on the third. Organisers and the competition department aim to conclude the Boys U-15 programme by the fourth day, after which the focus will shift to the girls’ team events and qualification rounds in the U-11 and U-13 singles categories, following a transition day.
While Bengal paddlers hold a clear statistical advantage, the presence of strong challengers and the added intensity of a 32-team field ensure that the competition remains wide open, with Gujarat in particular poised to leverage home advantage into a potentially significant title challenge.
With a large number of entries in the singles categories—384 in U-15, 331 in U-13, and 165 in U-11—along with two doubles events, the tournament promises to be a hectic affair for the players. However, despite the challenging heat, the organisers have made commendable food arrangements, which should help keep the players well-fuelled and focused.
The championships will be conducted under the supervision of an experienced officiating panel. Mangesh Mopker will serve as the referee for the tournament, with P.B. Bhaskar, Nalin Sonmani, Kunal Patel, and Chelapathi Rao supporting as deputies. A 60-member team of Blue Badge, international, and national umpires will oversee the matches under the guidance of competition manager N. Ganeshan. Stag Global equipment—including flooring, tables, and balls—will be used throughout the championships.
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