By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: For the first time after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, a Pakistani contingent will take part in a sporting event hosted by India.
The young athletes from the neighbouring country would be here to participate in the 12th South Asian Federation (SAF) Junior Table Tennis Championship to be hosted jointly by the Meghalaya Table Tennis Association (MTTA) and the State government from June 17 to 19.
“The Pakistan team has confirmed its participation in the event. It is a good thing to have young athletes from Pakistan participating in any sports event after a long gap,” a member of the organising committee said.
India had snapped all sporting ties with Pakistan after the Mumbai attacks which left over a 100 dead and over 300 injured.
Meanwhile, Maldives has also confirmed its participation in the three-day event. Maldives had earlier pulled out from the championship due to financial constraints within the country.
“Maldives had pulled out from the tournament owing to the high cost of tickets from Thiruvananthapuram to Guwahati (Rs 18000) which was too much for the country’s Federation to bear,” an official of the Table Tennis Federation of India said.
“The Maldives Table Tennis Federation (MTTF) has finally confirmed its participation after the government sanctioned the required funds,” the official added. With Maldives’ participation , it would be for the first time that all SAF nations would participate in the SAF Junior TT Championship. event. Other teams in the event are Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and hosts India.
The SAF championship is mandatory for each of these countries to get themselves the ticket for the 17th Asian Junior TT Championship slated to be held in China from July 11 – 17.
The first and the second placed player in the SAF tournament would represent their respective countries in the Asian championship in China. (With inputs from PTI)