Table tennis: Pakistan plan to host South Asian event

National federation looks for quick paperwork for August competition.

KARACHI: Pakistan Table Tennis Federation (PTTF) President SM Sibtain is keen to avoid delays in submitting the information of foreigner players to the Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) ministry for obtaining No-Objection Certificates for the South Asian Junior and Cadet Championship.

“I have asked the participating teams to submit all the requirements before July 20 so that we don’t miss out on the event like the Pakistan Netball Federation (PNF) has,” Sibtain told The Express Tribune.



He also informed that the PTTF has received a written approval from the IPC for organising the championship.

“Once we receive the entries, we’ll immediately forward them to the IPC to go through the clearance process.”

Defending champions India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal and Bangladesh are set to take part in the championship, which will be held at the Pakistan Sports Board Complex in Islamabad from August 27 to 29.

Table Tennis Federation of India Secretary General DR Choudhary said his side is also trying its best to make the event happen on time.

“I will send the proposal to the relevant ministry for participation today [Friday], and will officially announce the names of the players on Monday.”

Meanwhile, Table Tennis Association of Sri Lanka Secretary General Saman Rathnayake informed that they would be conducting trials next week, after which they will announce the junior team.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 20^th, 2014.

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