BETTOR.COM EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with Ali Faisal, National Table Tennis Champion
Pakistan’s table tennis scenario has not seen a great deal of improvement during the past years. With the number of table tennis players decreasing at an alarming rate, players like Ali Faisal come as a ray of hope for the sport in the country.
Ali Faisal is the current Table Tennis National Champion of Pakistan. The 36-year-old player is currently residing in Germany and visits Pakistan occasionally.
Ali is part of the five-member Pakistani squad, which will be representing the nation at the GAC World Championship, at Rotterdam, Netherlands from May 8 to 15. The inclusion of Pakistani players in the tournament is a positive initiative for table tennis
in the country, as Pakistan has not been represented in any tournament at an international level in the past five years.
Ali will be leaving for Netherlands on the evening of May 6, to join the rest of the Pakistani squad. With the resurgence of Pakistani table tennis players at the international stage, people following the sport in the country will surely look forward to
their countrymen, to put up a decent show in the championship.
Bettor.com caught up with Ali Faisal for an exclusive interview.
You won the National Championships in 2011. Can you go through the matches with us?
This year I saw many new faces during the championship and the most impressive amongst them was Owais Hassan, from the Pakistan Army. I competed against him in the finals of the competition. Although I defeated him in five games, he surely will be a tough
competitor in the near future. I was nervous playing against Asim Qureshi, who is a well-known player in Pakistan, but I managed to defeat him.
Can you give a background of yourself and the honours you have received thus far?
I belong from Faisalabad, Pakistan and completed my graduation from the Government College University, Lahore. After completing my education, I joined table tennis as a professional player. I have won a Bronze medal at the South Asian Federation (SAF) games
in 2004 and also won the national championship three times.
Why did you take Table Tennis as a profession?
I started playing for WAPDA when I joined the national table tennis team and they offered me a reasonable salary package and other benefits. The incentive lured me to take up the sport as my profession.
Is PTTF providing enough support to the local players? If not, what is the reason and how can the situation be improved?
In Pakistan, the only two popular sports are cricket and hockey. Table tennis is not on the priority list of the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB). They do not provide proper funding to the table tennis federation. Even the players, who are participating in the
current World Championship, are being sponsored by Pakistan International Airlines as the federation does not have enough funds to support the players.
During the camps for international tournaments, the federation hires foreign coaches. They do give training for a month or so, which is certainly not enough to improve the standards of the sport in the country. Even the PTTF is helpless, as they cannot provide
the players with trained coaches and proper playing facilities. The only international playing venue is the Rodham Hall, which was constructed for the SAF games at the Islamabad Sports Club.
I have told the PTTF, that I can render my services to give training to young paddlers in the country.
China is our neighbouring country and is on the top of the Table Tennis circuit. Do you think that if we hire coaches from China, the sport can develop in the country?
We hired Chinese coaches for the SAF games and the results were good. We can definitely improve the standard of table tennis in the country by hiring professional trainers from China. Only if the camps are held on a regular basis throughout the year, players
will be able to benefit and improve their game. Our players should be given the chance to attend training camps in China as well. This will help them in learning more, by seeing their style of training and game play.
What are you expectations from the upcoming Championship?
Currently, I am training in Germany and have participated in various local tournaments in Berlin. These tournaments have helped me improve my playing skills. I am hoping to qualify for the main draws, as it would give me a chance to go against the top players
which will be competing in the championship.
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