Ajay Chautala elected TTFI president

Member of Parliament Ajay Singh Chautala was on Wednesday unanimously elected president of the Table Tennis Federation of India at its 64th annual general meeting in Delhi.

Chuatala, who represents the Haryana Table Tennis Association, succeeds former Union Minister Vidyacharan Shukla, who held the post for two concecutive terms.

The unanimous decision came after fellow Member of Parliament Satish Pradhan was persuaded to withdraw his candidature. Pradhan was later appointed advisor to the TTFI.

Chautala told reporters after his election that he would strive to improve the standard of the game in the country and his first task would be the successful staging of the Commonwealth Championships, scheduled at Delhi from April 14 to 20.

Secretary-general M C Chowhan, who was elected unoppposed for another term, said 12 nations had confirmed their participation in the championships the last date for which was March 15.

He said a 21-day coaching camp, under the charge of a North Korean coach, to prepare the Indian team for the event has already commenced in Calcutta.

Four top players - former national champions Chetan Baboor and S Raman, current champion Soumyadeep Roy and Subhashish Shah - are training in Sweden in preparation for the tournament, he added.

Chowhan also announced venues for the next nationals, the dates for which are yet to be decided. The senior nationals, to be held in January next year, have been allotted to Hyderabad, while the junior championships would be held in Goa.

The sub-junior and cadet championships would be hosted by Jammu and Kashmir, Chowhan said.