KARACHI: After a poor show at the Commonwealth Games, the Pakistan national table tennis team is now looking forward to the South Asian Junior and Cadet Championship, which will take place in Islamabad from August 27-29.
Pakistan’s top four junior players Rameez Khan, Tabish Khurshid, Farwa Babar and Areeba Sheikh represented Pakistan in Glasgow, where they finished their campaign on a disappointing note.
“The players didn’t perform up to our expectations,” said Pakistan Table Tennis Federation (PTTF) Secretary Kifayatullah Khan while talking to The Express Tribune from Glasgow.
“However, it was their first international experience against seniors so we can’t blame them for the poor result. They need more training and international exposure.”
India and Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan in the event, with the former giving the strongest performance among the South Asian teams as they clinched the bronze medal.
Kifayatullah said that although India are far better than Pakistan, a silver medal can be expected from the national team at the South Asian Championship.
“We have organised practice matches with Pakistan’s senior team to train them more and to increase their speed and accuracy. The training camp will commence as soon as we return from Glasgow.”
Published in The Express Tribune, August 2nd, 2014.
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This is a big surprise. Pakistani players should be at the pinnacle of the sport and to not challenge at the Commonwealth Games is disappointing. Hope to see the junior players coming through soon.