Indian Table Tennis teams denied visas

KARACHI: The Indian table tennis teams and officials were denied Pakistani visas on Thursday which means they will not compete at the South Asian Cadets and Juniors Championship starting at the Habib Public School here on Friday (today).

This correspondent learnt through sources that India waited till the last minute and were told around 2:30pm on Thursday that their visa applications had been rejected by Pakistan.

The sources said there could be various factors behind this decision.

The sources said that Pakistan Table Tennis Federation (PTTF) had forwarded the case to the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) in May, but from there it was forwarded to the Interior Ministry on July 12, just two days before the competition. In such cases intelligence clearance is needed.

A source mentioned that some documents were missing when the case reached the Interior Ministry for processing.

It was also learnt that the incident would not affect India’s participation in the Asian Junior Championship which would be held in Thailand in September.

“India are a high-ranked side in the region and are matchless and therefore they will directly qualify for the Thailand event,” an official of PTTF said.

Teams of Nepal, the Maldives and Sri Lanka reached Karachi on Thursday. They practised at the Habib Public School Gymnasium in the evening.

Sindh Finance Minister Murad Ali Shah will inaugurate the competitions at 5pm on Friday (today).

Murad has sponsored the event which is being held for the third time in Pakistan.

Sri Lanka are top seeds, followed by Pakistan, Nepal and the Maldives.

In the team events in both cadets and juniors categories which will begin today Sri Lanka face the Maldives while Nepal meet hosts Pakistan.

As many as ten gold medals are at stake: four in team events, both juniors and cadets boys and girls, four singles and juniors boys and girls doubles.

Pakistan squad: Obaid Shah (Army), Mustafa Ali (Punjab), Hamza Godil (Sindh), Abid Iqbal (Punjab), Fahad Khawaja (KP)

Cadet boys: Ummam Khawaja (KP), Faizan Zahoor (Army), Basit Ali (National Highway Authority) Junior girls: Iqra Rehman (KP), Kainat (KP), Hareem Anwar (Sindh), Nimra Rehman (Army)

Cadet girls: Fatma Khan, Maheen Shiraz (Chromatex Club), Amal Saeed (Punjab)

Nepal squad: Subodh Limbu, Bipul Maharjan, Narayan Ghimire, Ghana Shyam Sharma Aryal, Sonu Thapa Magar, Sikka Suwal Shreshta, Lasta Maharjan, Sujata Duwal, Ritiz Joshi, Sanyog Kapali, Alex Maharjan, Diksha Dahal, Anju Suwal, Mariya Thapa Magar, (all players), Officials: Anil Ghimire, Sanjay Aryal

Sri Lanka: Thanushi N Rodrigo, Imasha De Silva, M Nathasha, Helitha Hendavitharana,Harshana Karadawela,Thenuka Dinujaya, Imesh Udaya Ranasingha (captain), Krishan Wikkramarathna, Supuna P Warusawithana, Dishanka U Thennakoon, Ms Hasnani Kapugeekiyana (captain), Ms Chamathsara Fernando, Ms Muthumali Priyadarshani, Ms Sheshala Bandara Officials: Mrs RSA Tennekoon (manager), Buddika RB Dikkubura (male coach), Namal Gunasekra (female coach), Prabath Priyantha (technical official)

Maldives squad: Mohamed Shaffan Ismail, Shafeeq Nibraas Mohamed, Mohamed Ahmed Zaidhaan, Nazim Aishath Rafa, Ismail Laisa Fathuhulla, Muaz Aminath Malysha

Officials: Yasir Mohamed (coach), Latheef Ibrahim (umpire), Hameed Azza (manager), Rasheed (technical official).