KARACHI:
Pakistan will not be represented at the Al-Fajr International table tennis tournament after the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) refused to hand over an NOC to the players who were forced to travel to Tehran by road.
With lack of funds forcing the Pakistan Table Tennis Federation (PTTF) to rule out air travel, Pakistan’s top-ranked player Asim Qureshi pulled out of the event that starts from tomorrow while the other three squad members were refused permission to participate.
According to the PTTF President Riaz Ahmed, the federation gets a grant of Rs 300,000 per year from the PSB and did not have sufficient funds after the World Team Championships in May.
“Table tennis is not doing well in Pakistan mainly because of lack of funds,” Ahmed told The Express Tribune. “There isn’t enough money in it. But we’re trying to improve the situation and next year we’re sending four players to China for the Asian Championship.”
Meanwhile, Qureshi rued the missed chance but looked ahead to the event in China after opting to skip the event.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 17th, 2011.
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