The TTFI has called upon the top 16 ranked players to provide written consent to return to training camps, following government authorization to reopen sports complexes. While the federation announced the resumption of these sessions on May 18, 2020, the players themselves are hesitant. Due to the unpredictability of the pandemic, many prefer to wait at least another week. Top-tier athletes, including Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Achanta Sharath Kamal, feel that traveling from their homes in Chennai to centers in Patiala, Sonipat, or Kolkata is currently too risky given the COVID-19 crisis.
The Table Tennis Federation of India had asked the top 16 players with written consent to join the training camp as the government had ordered the sports complexes to open for the sessions. The TTFI on Monday, 18th, May 2020, had announced that the training camps would resume since the government permission but after the submission of written consent from the named players. But the paddlers are hesitating when considering the unpredictable situation in the country and prefer to wait another week to attend the training camp. India’s leading Table Tennis players, like, Achanta Sharath Kamal, and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, who are, currently residing, in Chennai conveyed that, they do not feel comfortable travelling to the camps in Kolkata, Patiala’s Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports, or Sonipat during the COVID-19 crisis.
India entered a strict lockdown in March 2020 as the pandemic escalated throughout Asia and Europe, leading to an immediate halt in international sports and trade. With Chennai now seeing a high concentration of active cases, players have shared their worries with PTI. World No. 31 Sharath Kamal believes it is premature to restart formal sessions while the infection rates remain unstable; he prefers to continue training independently for now. Similarly, world No. 32 Sathiyan Gnanasekaran intends to stay in his hometown, working with coach Raman S at the Raman TTHPC and focusing on fitness with Ramji Srinivasan. Both athletes highlighted the logistical nightmares of traveling under pandemic restrictions and noted that, according to Sathiyan, no competitions are scheduled until the end of June.
M P Singh, the General Secretary of the TTFI, confirmed that 8 men and 8 women have been selected for the camps. He suggested that once the players gather and begin their workouts, the federation might start scheduling tournaments by late June or the following week. Since government clearance has been granted, the athletes will work with coaches Arup Basak and Soumyadeep Roy at any of the three designated camps, depending on the coaches' availability.