KARACHI:
Following the Pakistan Sports Board’s (PSB) refusal to grant funds for a foreign coach, the Pakistan Table Tennis Federation (PTTF) will send 11 junior players to China.
The PTTF was in talks with a Chinese coach, according to the federation’s president Riaz Ahmed, but PSB’s refusal has now forced them to make alternate plans prior to the Asian Junior Championship qualifiers that take place in June.
“If the coach can’t come to us, we can go to the coach,” Ahmed told The Express Tribune. “Financial issues are there but we need to keep our international commitments and promote the sport. We’re in talks with the Chinese federation, they are world champions so that’s the best place to train. They will bear accommodation costs and we pay for travel.”
The China-bound squad was selected after trials in Peshawar last week.
“The PTTF desperately needs new blood for international events. The players from Sindh impressed me the most: they dominated the national junior championship.”
Published in The Express Tribune, April 29th, 2012.
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I have never heard of this sort of situation anywhere in the world except in Pakistan. People are just too scared to visit the country. I hope the Pakistan govt and army are doing something to reverse the situation.