KARACHI: Dr Syed Imran Ali Shah, who is set to take over the top hierarchy of Pakistan Table Tennis Federation (PTTF) later this year, has vowed to bring the game back to its original place in the region in the next four to five years.

“We’ll unearth talent across the country and groom them for carrying the Pakistan flag aloft as their seniors Arif Khan, Arif Nakhuda, and Shakoor sisters — Rubina, Seema and Nazo — among others have done in the past,” he told newsmen while addressing his first press conference pertaining to the game at the Karachi Gymkhana on Wednesday.

He regretted that Pakistan once ranked amongst top eight in Asia and 24th in the world has drastically fallen in global ranking and insisted that a concerted effort is required to regain the lost pride. “There was a time when the game used to be widely played in schools and colleges but today it the ping pong tables are being used as dining tables,” lamented Dr Imran.

Imran, who is the eldest son of the late Sindh Sports Minister, Dr Mohammad Ali Shah, said a sum of approximately six to seven million rupees will be required for hosting the South Asian Cadet and Junior Table Tennis Championships slated at Islamabad from Aug 27 to 29. This will be preceded a weeklong regional camp for all participants for which Asian Table Tennis Union (ATTU) will dole out 1,000 US $. Imrwan and his sibling Junaid have been named chairman and co-chairman of the event respectively.

Pakistan’s International Table Ten­nis Federation (ITTF) trainer and former SAF Games gold medallist Arif Khan and his Indian contemporary Kamlesh Mehta will supervise the camp.

This is the second time the event will be taking place in Pakistan the previous took place in the city in 2008.

He said foreign coaches would be invited to hone the budding talent. Paying tributes to the services rendered by Mr. Sibtain, he said the latter is a backbone of the game and the general council has decided to make him honorary life president of the PTTF.

Responding to question, Sibtain said India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Maldives have confirmed their participation besides the hosts while Bangladesh said they will send confirmation after elections of their federation. There’s no coordination with Bhutan yet, he said.

Yet to another query, he said the government has accorded necessary permission for staging the event at the Pakistan Sports Board.

Published in Dawn, June 19th, 2014