Dortmund:
India will host the World Junior Table Tennis Championships this year instead of in 2013.
The 2012 edition of the event was originally allotted to South Africa and was to be held between December 9 and 16, Indian Table Tennis Federation (TTFI) said in statement.
But the South African federation expressed its inability to host this year's championships citing some unforeseen reason at home during the executive committee meeting of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) held on Saturday.
Under the circumstances, the event was offered to India, who were originally scheduled to host next year's championships.
TTFI readily agreed to host this year's edition at Hyderabad. TTFI Secretary General Dhandraj Choudhary, who attended the meeting at Dortmund, however, said the dates will be announced soon after consulting the Hyderabad Table Tennis Association.
"In any case, Hyderabad has agreed to host next year's event during the AGM in New Delhi last month, but we have to see how quickly the association can make arrangements in the next few months, including finding sponsors for the championships," said Mr Choudhary.