NEW DELHI, JULY 26: India have high hopes from its current National men's champion Chetan Baboor in the forthcoming individual events of the Dawei 45th World Table Tennis Championships to be held in Eindhoven (Netherlands) from August 2-8.``Chetan's exploits against top-ranking world players in international tournaments in recent months are proof of his calibre and his capability to rise to the occasion,'' National coach Kamlesh Mehta said last evening before the team left for Sweden for a week-long pre-conditioning camp there.``He (Chetan) had beaten the World No 1, 3 and 50 this season which is a good sign. His recent successes against top-ranking Chinese players have given him added confidence. We expect him to do better in this championship and improve his current world ranking (No 72),'' Mehta said.``Ours is an experienced and youthful side. Most of the men's players have been representing the country in internationals meets for the last 3-4 years. But Chetan is our best bet. He is capable ofcausing a couple of upsets. But much will depend upon the draw,'' the former National champion said.He, however, added he did not expect much from the two-member women's team. ``Our women players have a long way to go in international circuit,'' Mehta said.Meanwhile, the government has cleared a nine-member squad (five men, two women players and two coaches) at its cost for participation in the World Championships. It has also cleared the men's team for training in Sweden for a week prior to the World Championships.S Raman, Arup Basak and Arjun Dutta, along with Mehta, left for Sweden last night. They will join Baboor and Bhushan Thakur, who are in Sweden playing the National League there. The rest of the team members, including Poulami Ghatak and NR Indu, will leave for Netherlands on August 1.The mega event was originally scheduled to be held in Belgrade (Yugoslavia) in April last year. But due to the political situation in Kosovo and due to shortage of time, the team and individual events havebeen separated for the first time. The team events will now be held in Kuala Lumpur from February 12-20 next year. Indian men had finished 32 in the last edition in Manchester in 1997 while the women were 42nd.Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) secretary Mool Chand Chowhan said the federation had got clearance from the government to invite a foreign coach to train and prepare the players for international competitions. ``We have already in the process and have written to federations of North Korea and China and also some European countries. Earlier, when we had the services of a North Korean and a Chinese coach at our disposal, our team's position had improved in world rankings. Now, Mehta, one of the most experienced players in the country, is taking care of the team and expects a good result from the players. But a foreign coach will definitely help the players in knowing about the latest technicalities of the game,'' he said.Chowhan, who will visit Eindhoven during the World Championships as anInternational Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) council member, said the federation was positive in its approach to provide maximum coaching and training facilities to the top-ranked players to get better results.``We will be conducting more conditioning camps for national players this year. After the World Championships, we will organise the Asian Junior Championships in Chennai to give more exposure to our juniors,'' he added.The TTFI secretary was confident of the national team retaining its top position in the forthcoming SAF Games in Kathmandu. India won all the medals at stake in the last SAF Games in Chennai.Team For World ChampionshipsMen: Chetan Baboor, S Raman, Arup Basak, Bhushan Thakur.Women: Poulami Ghatak and N R Indu.Coaches: Kamlesh Mehta and Srinivasan Rao.Manager: HC Meena (Rajasthan).International Umpires: S Sridhar (Mumbai) and Arun Banerjee (Lucknow).Delegates: DR Chowdhary and Vipul Mitra.
