Daily Times

KARACHI: Five nations including Pakistan have confirmed their participation in the South Asian Cadets and Juniors Table Tennis Championship which takes place at the multi-purpose gymnasium of Habib Public School here from July 15. The nations who have confirmed to compete in the three-day event include India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the hosts Pakistan. “Confirmation from Bangladesh and Bhutan is still awaited, Pakistan Table Tennis Federation (PTTF) president SM Sibrain said Sunday. This will be the third time the event will take place in the country and second time in the city. Previously, Pakistan hosted the event at Karachi in 2008 and again at Islamabad in 2014.

According to Sibtain, players born in and after 2001 were eligible to compete in cadet (under-15) category. Similarly, players born in and after 1998 are eligible to appear in juniors (under-18). He added that 10 gold medals would be up for grabs in both the categories to be participated by boys and girls. The competition includes cadet boys and girls team events, juniors boys and girls team events, cadet boys and girls singles, juniors boys and girls singles and juniors boys and girls doubles. There will be no doubles for cadets. “Hosting of the event will cost around three million rupees,” he said when asked about the proposed budget. He said trials to select Pakistan team for the upcoming competition would be held at Multan on June 17 and 18. Four juniors and three cadets will be picked during the trials. The boys will undergo training at Swat while the girls will train in Karachi.