Pakistan table tennis team hopeful of winning medal after training in China

BEIJING: After the successful training at one of China’s top table tennis training centres, Pakistan’s top-ranked paddlers are hopeful to finish on the podium at the forthcoming South Asian Games scheduled to be held from December 1 to 10 in Nepal.

The six-member table tennis team comprising men and women attended a training camp at Zhengding Pingpong Training Centre, in China’s Hebei Province under supervision of Chinese coaches – Yue Yun Long and Wei Shuo as part of its preparations for the next SAF Games.

The training camp was sponsored by the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad in collaboration with Pakistan Table Tennis Federation (PTTF).

Sabah Kawar, Coach of Pakistan Table Tennis Team, who travelled with the team and stayed with the players during their three-week training camp said on Sunday that the Pakistani players learned new techniques and improved their game after the training held under world class facilities.

“Our paddlers played with some of the best players and learned new skills under the supervision of Chinese coaches at a fully equipped center, which helped polish their talent and improve their game,” he added.

He said all these players, came here for training, were selected on the merit through a trial and they are confident that they would compete and win medals for Pakistan in the forthcoming regional event.

Faizan Zahoor, a member of the team from Toba Tek Singh said, “After the training under the Chinese coaches, we are confident of making it to the podium at the SAF Games.”

He said there is now a possibility that Pakistani team would clinch silver or bronze medals at the SAF Games in Nepal, a feat the team wants to achieve in presence of some good teams like India and Sri Lanka during the games.

He opined that Pakistani players have a talent and they need better facilities and coaching to compete at the regional and world levels.

Perniya Khan, a young and rising player from Lahore, regards training and fitness equally important for winning the matches said all the players were trained under a disciplined atmosphere. This training will be vital for their performance in the SAF Games.

“I am way better player than what I was before coming to China. I have learned a lot of skills in the last 20 days. I am now able to invest more timing into training,” she said.

She said after attending the training camp at one of the top training bases in China, there is a good chance of winning a medal at the SAF Games.

Khan opined that such training camps should continue in future and proposed that the duration of training camp should be between two and  six months.

Another promising player from Peshawar, Fahad Khawaja shared that ahead of the SAF Games, they thought that there was only a slim chance. But, they were more confident now and hoping for a good results after the training.

He appreciated the Chinese government’s support for arranging the training camp and said it is benefiting the players.

He also favoured for longer training in China in future and said, “We got a chance to play with Chinese paddlers which has improved our game.”

Fahad opined that exposure to the Chinese top table tennis center, will pay rich dividends and help win medals at the SAF Games.

The 2019 South Asian Games, officially the XIII South Asian Games, is a major multi-sport event which were originally slated to be held from 9 to 18 March, 2019 in Kathmandu and Pokhara, Nepal.

However, the dates have been postponed and the event will now be held from 1 to 10 December 2019.