New Delhi, Dec 19 (IANS) India will host the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships in the national capital in May 2013. It will be the fifth time that India will host the tournament.

Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) treasurer V.K. Bawa told IANS that the championships will take place at the Thyagaraja Stadium here May 5-10.

The decision to award the Championship to India was taken during the World Junior Championships that ended in Hyderabad last week.

"The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) officials were impressed by the organisation in Hyderabad. They have promised to involve India more in the ITTF scheme of things. And one of the decisions taken during our meeting with the ITTF was conducting the 2013 Commonwealth Championships in India," said Bawa of the meetings also attended by ITTF president Adham Sharara.

Bawa said that around 19-20 countries are likely to participate in the tournament preceding the World Championships in Paris May 13-20.

India last organised the Commonwealth Championships at Jaipur in 2007, New Delhi (2001), Hyderabad (1994) and Bombay (1982).

In the last edition in Glasgow 2009, India's Subhajit Saha and Sharath Kamal won the doubles gold and repeated the feat the following year at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

TTFI is also aiming to get the World Championships back in India after 1987.

"We have just hosted the junior championships and the next step is to conduct one at the highest level," added Bawa.

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