200 young paddlers stranded in Vijayawada due to Cyclone Michaung
Vijayawada brought joy and pain in equal measure for young Bengal paddler Sreosree Chakraborty, who is now stuck along with 300 others because of Cyclone Michaung, which has wreaked havoc on India's east coast. Cyclone Michaung made landfall in Bapatla, a coastal district of Andhra Pradesh, bringing heavy rainfall in Vijayawada, about 80km away, where the National Ranking TT tournament concluded on Monday.
A Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) official told PTI on Tuesday that there are about 200 players in the age group of U-11 to U-19 stuck along with their family members.
The Vijayawada National Ranking event was the penultimate round of the five zonal tournaments, which will conclude with the Panchkula leg scheduled from December 8.
The players are sweating over whether they would be able to reach Panchkula (Haryana) in time for the competition, given the prevailing situation.
«We are booked on the Tamil Nadu Express to New Delhi from where we will go to Panchkula,» Sreosree's father Mrinmoy Chakraborty told PTI from Vijayawada.
«As of now, there's no update from the Railways. The scheduled time (of departure) here is 4am but we doubt the train will start from Chennai tonight,» he said.
The paddlers have no option but to wait and watch.
Valuable ranking points are at stake in the final leg, which will help them qualify for the all-important National Championships.
«There is waterlogging everywhere and it's been raining incessantly for two-and-a-half days now. It's very difficult to move out.
Flights too stand cancelled. Moreover, it's difficult to afford flight tickets,» Mrinmoy added.
Their only solace is that they have not been cut off from the outside world as the internet is working smoothly.
