India in race to host World Cup TT

Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) secretary general Dhanraj Choudhary told IANS that the sport's governing body ITTF has shortlisted India to stage the prestigious event, considered second only to the World Championships.

"ITTF were impressed with the way we hosted the World Junior Championships (in Hyderabad) last year. They now have picked India as the probable host for the 2015 World Team Cup," said Choudhary, who was nominated as one of the 32 ITTF Board of Directors at the Paris World Championships earlier in the month.

India has never hosted the mega event introduced in 1980. The individual World Cup for men and women takes place on even years while the Team Cup happens on odd-years. The host country gets automatic qualification.

Choudhary feels India is growing as a table tennis nation and the timing was right to host global events regularly.

"The organisation of World Cups is a lot easier in comparison to World Championships. There are two more countries in the race but we should be able to bag the rights. As the host country, our players will get the opportunity to play in the event for the first time," he said.

Players from around 130 countries took part in the Paris World Championships while 12 teams in either category compete in World Cup.

While the individual World Cup took place first in 1980, the team competition was introduced a decade later. The Team Cup was cancelled in 1995 before it returned on the ITTF calendar in 2007.