Goa is contention to host next year's Commonwealth Table Tennis championships, the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) said today.
According to TTFI secretary general Dhanraj Choudhary, the Goa Table Tennis Association (GTTA) is one of the bidders to host the event.
The TTFI secretary general said he was happy to consider Goa for the event in which about 25 countries from the Commonwealth will participate.
"We will place Goa's bid along with others before the committee. But, I am sure GTTA has the wherewithal to successfully conduct an event of this size," Choudhary said.
Choudhary said the city had successfully hosted the Lusofonia Games in January this year and the GTTA has shown its capability by conducting the ongoing Road to Nanjing Series as well as the Global Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Championships.
Elaborating further on the championships, the top official of the TTFI said originally New Delhi was to host the RTN series and the Global Junior circuit events.
"But after seeing the ideal infrastructure here and GTTA expressing itself to be the hosts, we shifted the two events to Goa," said Choudhary.
"That's why you see a good number of participation. Additionally, we have 27 junior and cadet paddlers are participating besides Goa, as hosts, getting four entries," he added.
The GTTA president Vero Nunes said that he has already approached the Goa government for setting up an academy for the sport in Goa.
"I have already mooted the proposal and sent it to Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar. Hopefully, it will be cleared," said Nunes.
