Foreign teams to arrive on July 14

Foreign teams will arrive here on July 14 to feature in the 2016 South Asian Cadet and Junior Table Tennis Championship which will be held here at the Habib Public School’s air-conditioned gymnasium from July 15 to 17, a senior official of Pakistan Table Tennis Federation (PTTF) said on Sunday.

The nations participating included India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Maldives, the official said.

He said India had applied for visas and would get them soon. This is the third time that Pakistan is hosting the affair. Pakistan hosted it here in 2008 and then in 2014 at the Pakistan Sports Complex in Islamabad.

As many as ten gold medals are at stake in the three-day affair. The competitions will be held in cadet and junior team events (both boys and girls), singles and doubles. There is no doubles event for the cadets category. Players below 15 years of age can feature in the cadet category. Those over 15 but less than 18 can compete in the juniors category.

This correspondent learnt that around 26 technical officials officiate the contests. One umpire each from Sri Lanka and the Maldives will also serve in the event. They will arrive with their teams.

Pakistan Table Tennis Federation (PTTF) on Sunday unveiled both cadet and junior teams for the event which will see two top teams qualify for the Asian Junior Championship.

A PTTF official said that the team officials would be named soon.

Junior boys: Obaid Shah (Army), Mustafa Ali (Punjab), Hamza Godil (Sindh), Abid Iqbal (Punjab), Fahad Khawaja (KP).

Cadet boys: Ummam Khawaja (KP), Faizan Zahoor (Army), Basit Ali (National Highway Authority) Junior girls: Iqra Rehman (KP), Kainat (KP), Hareem Anwar (Sindh), Nimra Rehman (Army)  Cadet girls: Fatma Khan, Maheen Shiraz (Chromatex Club), Amal Saeed (Punjab)