Thakur among probables

S Sridhar (Mumbai) and Arun Bannerjee (Lucknow) will be the two international umpires representing India at the world event.

Bhushan Thakur is currently attending a preparatory camp at Patiala alongwith the other Indian probables and the selected players will assemble in Delhi next week before leaving for the Netherlands.

Over 400 players from about 100 countries are expected to participate in the championships.

Following the cancellation of the tournament in Belgrade (Yugoslavia) last year because of the deteriorating situation in Kosovo, India and China had bid for the world event. Netherlands finally got the nod three months ago. The same venues that were used for the successful European Championships last year will be used in Eindhoven: the Indoor Sports Centrum and the Ice Rink. During the first three days of the championship, matches will be played at both venues, with 20 tables in the Indoor Sports Centrum and a further 12 in the Ice Rink. From the fifth day onwards only four tables will be used at the Indoor Sports Centrum, adopting the `Centre Court’ principle.

For the first time, the individual and team events are being held separately. The team events will be staged in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) from February 19 to 26 next year. This is the first time that the World Championships are being held in Malaysia. Sweden and France had also bid for the event. The 44th World Championships were held in Manchester (Europe) in 1997 and in 2001 will be staged in Osaka (Asia). Therefore, the sharing of the World Championships in 1999 and 2000 between Eindhoven (Europe) and Kuala Lumpur (Asia) creates a perfect balance between the two continents.