Pakistan to field junior TT lot for CW Games

KARACHI: Pakistan has decided to field junior table tennis lot in the Commonwealth (CW) Games slated to be held in Gold Coast, Australia, from April 4-15.

As many as four players, two boys and two girls, have been finalised for the quadrennial competitions. A senior official of Pakistan Table Tennis Federation (PTTF) told ‘The News’ that the country’s promising youngsters Mohammad Rameez, Fahad Khwaja, Fatima Khan and Hareem Anwar would represent Pakistan in Australia’s event.

Swat-born Rameez and Lahore’s Fahad are 18-year old. Rameez has recently finished as runner-up in the men’s singles of the 54th National Table Tennis Championship held here at the Islamia Club’s gymnasium.

Lahore’s Fatima is Under-18 national champion while Sindh’s Hareem is Under-18 national championship runner-up. Hareem has also lifted gold in the recently held Quaid-i-Azam Inter-Provincial Youth Games in Islamabad.

Pakistan will feature in individual events only in Australia’s affair as the country has not qualified for the team event because it has not featured in Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships.

Meanwhile the PTTF official also revealed that Pakistan would also field its men’s team in the World Championships to be held in Sweden in April.And it is expected that four players would be sent for the purpose.

“Effort would be made to send four players to Sweden,” the official said. In order to opt for the most appropriate choice for picking team for the World Championships the PTTF has sought input from its major stakeholders.

It has been learnt that in the past the players would be picked on the basis of national ranking. However a proposal this time has come from different cordons, wanting to opt for trials before finalising the squad. “We are looking each and every aspect of the matter and hopefully a more appropriate decision would be taken after taking input from stakeholders,” the PTTF official said. In the Commonwealth Games around 89-member contingent of Pakistan would feature in ten disciplines.