More than 100 players from abroad will compete in the Samjhana Cup International Table Tennis Tournament set to take place from January 31 to February 4 in Kathmandu.

“We are expecting the participation of players from at least 10 countries in the tournament,” said Urdip Joshi, the president of organiser Lalitpur Table Tennis Club during a function on Thursday to sign a sponsorship deal for the event. The expected cost of the event is Rs2.25 million out of which the chief sponsor, Samjhana Laboratory Clinic will bear half the expenses. Samjhana Clinic’s managing director Rajana Joshi and Club’s president Urdip signed the MoU.

The event is being organised under the aegis of All Nepal Table Tennis Association (ANTA) and would feature players from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Thailand, UAE, Japan, France, Thailand, and Korea apart from Nepali players.

ANTA president Chaturananda Rajvaidya said that top-ranked players from South Asian countries would compete in the event. The tournament will have men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s team events, men’s veteran singles above 40 and 55 years age category and women’s veteran singles above 40 years age category.