Odisha to set up table tennis academies in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack

Bhubaneswar, April 2 To promote table tennis in the state, the Odisha government has decided to set up academies in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack while training centres will be set up across all the indoor halls in the state, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said on Sunday.

Delegates from International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and International Table Tennis Federation foundation met Patnaik here and he informed them about the decision of his government.

He also sought help of the ITTF for coaches' training programmes and hosting international table tennis events in Odisha.

The ITTF Foundation is the ITTF group's sport development body and is supporting a project in Bhubaneswar to use table tennis for gender empowerment and equality.

The delegation included ITTF and ITTF Foundation President Petra Sorling, ITTF Foundation Director Leandro Olvech, ITTF Foundation Programme Manager Saurabh Mishra, an ITTF Foundation Programme Coordinator Julia Tappendorf.

Welcoming the delegation, Patnaik praised the effort of the ITTF to promote table tennis in the state and country and assured them of all support.

The delegation said that they will organise competitive events, plan the social legacy of table tennis events, and provide coach education in table tennis.

They expressed gratitude to the Chief Minister for his focus on sports and for his plan towards TT development. They appreciated the Commonwealth TT championship organised in 2019 in Cuttack and assured support to bring more such events to Odisha.

Meanwhile, a team of delegates led by the Director Olympic Foundation for culture and Heritage (OFCH) also met the Chief Minister on Sunday and discussed the Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP) being implemented in the state.

The members appreciated the support extended by the Chief Minister and the Odisha government in making this unique programme a success.

Odisha was the first state to implement OVEP in India and had launched the initiative in May 2022. Since then, 32000 young children have been impacted by this programme which was introduced in 90 schools across Bhubaneswar and Rourkela.

The programme is all set to scale up and impact more than 1.5 lakh school children in 250 schools in Odisha.

The Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage will be visiting the OVEP intervened school in Bhubaneswar on April 3 and 4.

The initiative is being implemented in collaboration with the Odisha's School and Mass Education (SME) department and the Abhinav Bindra Foundation Trust.

The delegates were delighted by the decision of the Chief Minister to support the Olympic Forest Network programme of the IOC through more than 1 million tree plantations this year.