India, Aug. 15 -- The UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships begins here on Sunday with 1900 players, including almost all the top senior men's and women's players, competing across 12 categories.

The tournament is being held despite the storm caused by the Sports Ministry's suspension of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) on Wednesday with the failure to hold elections on time among the reasons for taking action.

The TTFI has stressed its autonomy under the Olympic Charter, while urging the Ministry to keep its order in abeyance and reconsider the matter afresh.

The TTFI said there will be about 4200 matches -- from the group stages to the knockouts -- over the next eight days. The first sets of group matches get und...