Pakistan concede since ‘there was no point’

Table tennis team crashes out of world championship.

KARACHI: Pakistan’s campaign at the World Table Tennis Championship came to a screeching halt as none of the country’s four players were able to book a place in the main round of the event underway in Paris.

Pakistan’s three players in the men’s event, Yasir Bhatti, Saleem Abbas and Bilal Yaseen, and the country’s lone representative in the women’s category, Shabnam Bilal, were unable to make the cut in the last-128 and were sent packing in the preliminary round yesterday.

Pakistan players concede final matches

However, the surprising bit was that Pakistan players did not even bother taking part in their last match with all four of them conceding their final group match.

Bhatti and Abbas also skipped their men’s doubles match against Belgium’s Robin Davos and Cedric Nuytinck in the second pre-qualifying round.

“We skipped our final matches because there was no point — we didn’t think we could compete with the international players,” Bhatti told The Express Tribune.

“The tournament has been an eye opener for us because we realised that we are not at par with international players. We were just waiting for the last list of the main draw. We hoped that we would get a wildcard but we didn’t. It’s disappointing to come all this way and lose badly. I think the tournament began on a rough note for us.”



Pakistan squad had reached Paris on Monday and missed their opening matches at the event after failing to arrive in time. After their opponents were given walkovers, the Pakistan men’s team lost all its matches on day two with Shabnam recording a lone win and a defeat in her encounters.

However, the final day was marred with disappointment with Pakistan players not even bothering to show up for their final games.

Bhatti said the team suffered since it failed to appear at the Commonwealth Championship in India that took place from May 5, adding that the event would have served as a good warm-up for the world championship.

“We missed the Commonwealth Championship in India which cost us heavily. If we had participated in India we would’ve gotten a fair idea before the world championship.”

PTTF unperturbed

When asked about the players’ absence from the final matches, the Pakistan Table Tennis Federation (PTTF) remained unperturbed.

“They appeared in the event on their own and paid for their own expenses,” said a PTTF official.

“The Pakistan federation cannot react on this since the players appeared in an individual event and
were not representing the PTTF.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 16^th, 2013.