Over 500 players will participate in the four-day championship. Expressing his gratitude to the sponsors for their support, J Alexander, Karnataka Table Tennis Association president, said the championship served as a platform for players from the state to emerge on the national scene. “It has been a long time since Karnataka had a strong presence on the national stage, we hope this changes in the days to come,’’ he added.

Navaneeth will face tough competition in the men’s section from second seed Jaideep Das of South Western Railway and third-seeded Shreyal K Telang of BNM, the winner of the men’s singles title at the recent State open championship. Among women, Maitreyee will face competition from second seed Raksha R of JTTA, Haripriya KS of SAI, who is seeded third and BNM’s Aishwarya Bidri seeded fourth.

Seedings: Men: Navaneeth AR (BNM) 1; Jaideep Das (SWR) 2; Shreyal K Telang (BNM) 3; Sagayaraj (SWR) 4; Anirban Tarafdar (CB) 5; Youth boys: Shreyal K Telang (BNM) 1; Navaneeth AR (BNM) 2; Sunand Vasan (HOR) 3; Pradeep V (BNM) 4; Vedant M Urs (HV) 5; Junior boys: Vedant M Urs (HARI) 1; Shreyal K Telang (BNM) 2; Sunand Vasan (HOR) 3; Charan VP (SAI) 4; Keshavaraj (JTTA) 5; Sub-junior boys: A Athani (MTTC) 1; Rakshith RB (MAL) 2; Sucheth P Shenoy (HOR) 3; Sanketh GS (HOR) 4; Neeraj Raj (JTTA) 5; Cadet Boys: Neeraj R (JTTA) 1; Rohan J (HOR) 2; Sudeep G (HOR) 3; Kaustubh Kulkarni (BNM) 4; Preetham KN (OMTTA) 5.

Women: Maitreyee Bailoor (BTTA) 1; Raksha R (JTTA) 2; Haripriya KS (SAI) 3; Aishwarya R Bidri (BNM) 4; Arpitha BS (SBMJC) 5; Youth girls: Ridhi Rohit (HTTA) 1; Maitreyee Bailoor (BTTA) 2; Haripriya KS (SAI) 3; Aishwarya Bidri (BNM) 4; Sahana Kulkarni (MM) 5; Junior girls: Maitreyee Bailoor (BTTA) 1; Spoorthy MV (PTTA) 2; Raksha R (JTTA) 3; Ridhi Rohit (HTTA) 4; Kushi V (GEMS) 5; Sub-junior girls: Spoorthy MV (PTTA) 1; Aiswarya N (STAR) 2; Priya Rao (OMTTI) 3; Medini R Bhat (HOR) 4; Anjana S (STAR) 5; Cadet girls: Kushi V (GEMS) 1; Medini Bhat (HOR) 2; Gayathri Tankasali (MM) 3; Archana Kamath  (CCA) 4; Kiran Sanjeeva (OMTTI) 5.