Asim Qureshi back in action for the World Table Tennis Championship
Asim Qureshi is one of the most prominent players in the Pakistan Table Tennis Federation (PTTF). Asim has not been in action in any of the major tournaments in the country or in the International Table Tennis circuit. The former Pakistan number one will
make a comeback in the upcoming World Championship.
The PTTF selected Asim in the five-member squad for the 2011 World Table Tennis Championship, which is to be held in May. He is selected for the individual events for the mega event, which is going to be played at Rotterdam, Netherlands. The event will continue
for six days and will be witnessed by millions of spectators live and through other sports channels all over the world.
The other players, who will represent Pakistan on the event, will be Ali Faisal, Yasir Iqbal, Shabnam Bilal and Ayesha Iqbal. Asim has made enormous contribution towards for the love of the game. He is also giving coaching lessons in different universities
in Lahore, most prominent of which is FAST National University, Pakistan.
Asim is a twice National Table Tennis Champion and a thrice National Games winner. He was the number one player in Men's Single and Doubles ranking. He has also won the Silver Medal at the South Asian Games SAF in 2004. He was also the member of the squad
which represented Pakistan at the Common Wealth Games.
Asim is currently engaged with Allied Bank of Pakistan. He is the member of the banks Table Tennis team. He is not on the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World ranking. The players in Pakistan are not being sponsored by the Pakistan Sports Board
(PSB) and the governing body of Table Tennis.
The PTTF officials said, “It would be nice if the PSB extends its help, otherwise it would be very difficult for us to manage such a trip needing hefty resources.”
This time even the officials of the PTTF turned down the request for sponsoring for the players for the Championship. However, the players are being sponsored by Pakistan International Airline (PIA) and some companies from the private sector.
Asim in his interview with a local news agency said, “It’s going to be a huge test for me. The last time I played in the world individual championship was in 1999. The PTTF has been asking me to participate but they would never sponsor. This time too they
haven’t.”
The players are facing problems regarding the preparations for the tournament. The PTTF is not taking the championship seriously and there is no coach available at the camp which is going to be held at Lahore next week.
Table Tennis is a major sport in Asia, as most of the champions have emerged from our neighbouring country, China. The PTTF could take assistance of the Chinese if they really want to improve the level of this sport in the country.
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