Ankur Bhattacharya won his first title in the men’s singles of the recently concluded State Championship. He also clinched the under-19 singles title in the same competition. 

The significance of his victory was that Ankur overcame fever, cough, and cold to defeat Siliguri’s Joyobrata Bhattacharya 4-1 in the men’s singles final and Bodhiswotta Chowdhury 3-0 in the under-19 singles final.

Now the country’s prodigious paddler is aiming at the Youth World Championship (under-19) to be held in Nova Gorica, Slovenia from 26th November to 3rd December. 

Previously Ankur participated in the World Youth Championship twice but bowed out of the competition losing to a Chinese and a Japanese paddler, respectively in the singles. This time, the 16-year-old paddler is going to take part in four events (singles, doubles, team events, and mixed doubles). 

Ankur’s father and coach, Angshuman Bhattacharya feels, that Ankur according to his recent performance should reach the final in the singles event. Bhattacharya said, "He should reach the final according to his recent performance." 

Ankur will start for Slovenia after completing his engagement in the national zonal ranking competition in Vadodara on 23rd December.

Unfortunately, the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) does not allocate any allowance for the participants in the World Youth Championships whereas a participant has to spend nearly Rs 30 thousand including the visa. 

Even, the participants were not provided the food during their long air-trip to Slovenia from India. The participants get assurance from the TTFI of the reimbursements of their expenditures to get the visas which are nearly Rs 13 thousand. But the amount comes to the participants too late.