TEHRAN (Mehr News Agency) -- The 9th Asian Junior Table Tennis Championship will open this morning in Hyderabad, the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.

Twenty-two countries including Iran have some 200 players in the Asian event, which is organized by the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI), under the authority granted by the Asian Table Tennis Union (ATTU).

The nine-member Iranian team arrived in Hyderabad to participate in the six-day tournament which will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Chandra Babu Naidu at Sri Kotla Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy Indoor Stadium, Yousufguda, Hyderabad, today.

The winning teams and players in various events will be awarded trophies. The winner of each event will receive gold medal, the losing finalist will receive silver medal, and losing semifinalist will receive bronze medal.

The top four teams in the competition will get a direct entry into the next edition of the championship.

Team championship finals would be held Thursday, which will be followed by the individual events.