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TT ropes in AB Bank

Sports Reporter
Bangladesh Table Tennis Federation (BTTF) yesterday signed a deal with AB Bank to get a handsome amount of sponsorship for the 29th National Table Tennis Championships and two training programmes.
The AB Bank will provide about Tk 22.42 lakh for the year 2008 including seven lakh for the national championships, which will be held in June.
AB Bank president and managing director Kaiser A Chowdhury singed the agreement with BTTB president Abu Solaiman Chowdhury and later handed over the cheque at a media conference at a local hotel yesterday.
The qualifiers will be held from June 2-12 at different districts while the final round will be held in Dhaka from June 24-28.
The age-group programmes, to be held twice a year, would be aiming at improving technique and skill of paddlers as well as talent hunting.
The AB Bank will also provide gear for the event. The national team and top four national raking men's, women's, boys' and girls' teams will wear the AB Bank logo.
"I thank AB Bank because they have come forward to sponsor us in response to NSC chairman General Moeen U Ahmed's call to the banks to help the sport federations," said Solaiman.
"This is a very significant day in the history of the federation. We have been trying to develop the game for long and we feel it's a good start."
Replying to a question, the BTTF chief admitted that during his long tenure, he had failed to give momentum to the development of the game.
Bangladesh Olympic Association vice-president Mizanur Rahman Manu said the
federation should try to create fans of the game, otherwise it would face extinction.
National Sports Council (NSC) secretary Akbar Hossain told that the NSC would try to increase the budget for training for the federation in the future.
"Table tennis has been ignored under pressure of the popular games like football and cricket If our sponsorship brings back life to the popular indoor games, we would most-happy, " said Kaiser Chowdhury.
"The sport has reached the highest level in Asia but there is no international success for us in this arena. We have been involved with the game in the past but this time it is a big effort from our part and hope it succeeds.
"We want to make the game more popular and bring international success. I hope this agreement will improve the players' quality and scout new talents,' Kaiser added.