The annual staging of the St James/Jamaica Table Tennis Association (JTTA) Championships will begin on Saturday at Montego Bay Cricket Club.

The tournament will be divided into two sections, one section for St James parish players only and the other section open to players from anywhere in the island.

The events, which will be contested in the section for St James players only include men's and women's singles, which will be used to decide the parish's champions for the year.

Other events exclusive to the western city's players are veteran's male and female, over-40 singles, male and female under-21 singles, plus boys and girls singles for age-groups under-18, under-15 and under-12. There will also be a novice male and female singles competition for players who have never played a tournament before.

Prizes

Events in the Open Section are men's and women's singles, which are aimed at attracting top national players to the tournament.

The winner of the men's and women's singles this year will receive $10,000 and $5,000, respectively, with the runners-up getting $5,000 and $2,500, respectively.

Registration will start at 9:00 a.m., with play beginning at 10:00 a.m. in the St James junior events. Men's and Women's Open will commence at 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m., respectively. The St James men's singles will begin at 3:00 p.m., while the women's singles, the veterans' men's and women's singles and both novice singles will start at 4:00 p.m.

The event has attracted new sponsors Northwest Development, Trinity Pharmacy and Clinicare Pharmacy, which are all Montego Bay-based companies.