Pak table tennis team to leave for Suzhou on Friday

KARACHI: A six-member Pakistan table tennis squad, accompanied by two officials, will leave for China on Friday from here to feature in the World Table Tennis championships which will be held in Suzhou from April 26 to May 3.
The top-ranked players have been picked to represent Pakistan in the mega event. They are Asim Qureshi, Salim Abbas, Shujaat Ali, Shabnam Bilal, Ayesha Ansari and Maleeha Khursheed.
Pakistan Table Tennis Federation’s (PTTF) vice-president finance Khwaja Hasan Wadood will accompany the side as head delegate while Sohail Mazhar of Habib Bank Limited (HBL) will go as manager.
PTTF chief SM Sibtain will also proceed to China to attend meetings from April 27 to May 1.
On April 27, the Asian Table Tennis Union (ATTU) Council will meet; on May 28 the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) AGM will be conducted; on May 30 the ITTF Board of Governors will meet; and on May 1, the Commonwealth AGM will be held.
The PTTF will get NOC from the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) on Wednesday (today). “We will receive NOC today,” Sibtain told this correspondent.
However, he said it was not yet known whether they would be able to get the financial support of the PSB at this stage or not.
“We have already requested the Board for financial help for the tour. We have been promised support. If we are unable to get it now, we will definitely get it in the coming days,” Sibtain said.
The PSB has recognised the Sibtain-led PTTF as the legal body. But sources said that a rival group has challenged the Board’s stance through a petition in Lahore High Court (LHC).
Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) is also a party in the case as it also recognises Sibtain-led PTTF, which is also recognised by the ITTF.
When asked why players like Salim were being sent to the World Championship despite their poor performance in the last World Championship held in Tokyo, Sibtain said they could not disturb the system. “We are sending the players to China on the basis of their rankings. Recently the top four senior male players could not reach the semi-finals of the Masters Cup which shows that they will soon lose their grip and youngsters will take their places,” Sibtain said.
In Tokyo World Championship, Salim Abbas’ performance was extremely poor. However, Asim Qureshi, who also seems to be losing his magic, did a commendable job.
In the last two Masters Cup editions, youngsters like Salman Virk, Abdur Rahim and Mohammad Rameez did a great job and they are likely to replace the seniors in near future.
The PTTF has been maintaining the players’ rankings since 2013 on the basis of their performance at the national championship as well as the Masters Cup. This year two Masters Cup tournaments have been held and three more are will be held.