There was a time when table tennis was very popular in Pakistan. Pakistan produced superb players who were capable of beating even the best players in the international circuit.
From 1984 to 1990, Pakistan twice finished sixth in the Asian Championships -- the top five used to be table tennis giants China, South Korea, North Korea, Japan and Taiwan.
Javed Chotani won gold medal in the singles event of the World Junior Table Tennis Championships in Egypt in 1979.
In 1984-85 Pakistan’s prolific player Arif Khan achieved 17th rank in Asia and 67th in the world, which remains the best from a Pakistani player in the history of the sport.
Arif also has to his credit three gold medals in the South Asian Games, two in singles and one in doubles while pairing up with Nazo Shakoor. Farjad Saif was part of Pakistan’s Seoul Olympics contingent in 1988.
Former secretary of Pakistan Table Tennis Federation (PTTF) SM Sibtain played a big role in the transformation of the game in Pakistan. He served as PTTF secretary for three successive four-year tenures with SH Shah of Railways serving as president. Sibtain, a former federal secretary, provided quality training facilities and ample international exposure to the budding players.
The stints of the two Chinese coaches, Tien and Yao Chen Xu, yielded good results. Sibtain would bring sponsorship by using his influence. Those who were closely attached with the table tennis of that golden period recall that the game was popular like cricket, particularly, in Karachi. Punjab also produced good talent.
In that period Pakistan rose to the second division of the World Championships. However, since 1992 the standard of the game has been on the decline. Currently there is no one among juniors or seniors who could achieve anything noteworthy in the international circuit.
In the recently concluded South Asian Junior and Cadet Championships at Karachi out of ten titles Pakistan won only one -- Faizan Zahoor secured gold in the cadet boys singles by beating Sri Lanka’s Harshana Karadawala 3-0 in the final.
Sri Lanka swept the rest of the nine gold medals in the absence of India who could not participate because they failed to get Pakistani visas.
But it does not mean that there is no talent at the grassroots level in Pakistan. Talent is there. Teenager Ummam Khawaja recently got seventh position in the ITTF Hopes Week and Challenge in Doha. But the problem is that the talent is not properly trained and groomed. Unlike in the past the players are not being given international exposure.
During the last four years internal politics has also damaged the sport. Seniors like Asim Qureshi and Salim Abbas continue to win national events which shows that new players are not coming up.
Sibtain is still serving, now as PTTF president, but he has lost the vigour due to old age.
Ask Arif Khan, a senior coach and former international great, and he will tell you the reasons for the decline. "No doubt, the era from 1984 to 1992 can be called the golden era of Pakistan’s table tennis. The significance of that era was that we were able to play in the top eight at the Asian Championships. I also played the men’s singles quarter-finals and beat the world champion who belonged to Japan. Our world standing was also good," Arif Khan told ‘The News on Sunday’.
"In 1984 under Chinese coach Tien, who was the best coach of Beijing, drastic improvement was seen in the standard. After that the standard of coaches and the availability of resources could not be maintained which affected the game. Coaching camps also decreased. Training camps, domestic tournaments and international exposure are essential to produce positive results. Currently there is nothing," said Arif, also an ITTF coaches instructor.
"Our current lot is not stable, physically, technically and tactically," he said. "In 1976 Chinese coach Yao Zhen Xu assembled the top players and held a camp. The standard of Karachi was much higher than Punjab. He formed two teams, interlinked them and on the basis of that he formed a formidable lot. Pakistan got the sixth position in the Afro-Latin American event in Mexico in 1976. I think Munsalim won the singles final," he recalled.
"The current under-15 and under-18 players are capable of growing. But they need proper training. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa good work is being done. Azhar is doing a good job. He runs an academy in Barikot, Swat. Talent also comes from Kamalia. You need to bring in talent to the mainstream. The way the things are going, I don’t think it will serve the purpose. In China kids begin training when they are only six years old. We start training our children too late," Arif said.
"Iran told their top-level players to leave table tennis and become coaches. They hold camps in provinces and then the cream from them is brought to the national academy in Tehran where the head coach trains them. This process helped them a lot. The players undergo training in the evening at the Tehran academy. In the morning they get their formal education in schools. Iran has now so much developed that its two players are going to feature in Rio Olympics," Arif said.
"The standard of women in Pakistan is pathetic. Cultural barriers and other issues are obstructing their growth. Clubs used to play a key role in table tennis development in Pakistan but no longer. There is a need to initiate table tennis at school level. In the developed world schools act as nurseries and from there the talent is brought to clubs where coaches prepare it for national duty," Arif said.
Arif runs the Islamia club which was founded by his late father Majeed Khan who rendered meritorious services for table tennis in Pakistan.
"If I get a hostel for the Islamia Club I will register it with the ITTF as a hot spot academy. India has also established Indian Community Club (ICC) in America which is recognised by the ITTF. From next year onwards I plan to groom kids from 8-12 years of age. Let’s see how much I succeed," Arif said.
A lot of work is needed to bring table tennis back on track. Financial assistance should come from not only the government but also from the corporate sector. The players need jobs. The government should cut the import duty on table tennis equipment. The PTTF should generate revenue and the top-level coaches should be assigned the task to prepare the cream at the most important centres. It also needs to open a national academy which could bring a revolution in the game’s development process. It is time to think differently.