February 22, 2008	Friday	Safar 14, 1429

KARACHI, Feb 21: A seven-member Pakistan table tennis team including three women players leave for Guangzhou, China, on Friday with the sole aim to better their current rankings in the World Team Table Tennis Championships which runs from Feb 24 to March 2.

Pakistan men’s team is currently ranked 75th among 136 nations while women’s are placed 102nd among 117 countries.

To be accompanied by two North Korean coaches, the team was picked after trials held at the PSB Coaching Centre in the city.

The men are drawn in division 3 group K alongside Chile, Lithuania, New Zealand, Cyprus and Uzbekistan. The draws for the women are to be taken out on Friday.

The PTTF president, S.M. Sibtain who will accompany the team as delegate will attend various meetings including the Asian Table Tennis Union (ATTU) council on the sidelines of the world spectacle.

Team:

Men’s: Asim Qureshi, Saleem Abbas, Yasir Bhatti and Asim Aziz.

Women’s: Ghalia Khurshid, Sadia Falaksher and Maliha Khurshid.

Officials: Rih Wang Il, Kim song Hyon (coaches); S.M. Sibtain (delegate).