NEW DELHI: Following news that Busan in South Korea has had its first confirmed cases of coronavirus, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has postponed the world team championship scheduled to be held there from March 22-29. The Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) has expressed willingness to host the event.Whether the event should be shifted out of Busan is a call the world body will take. As of now, it has set June 21-28 as tentative dates. According to the ITTF calendar published at the start of the year, that particular week would have seen the Australian Open and Korean Open take place. The ITTF is working with the local organising committee to come up with a solution.
“The ITTF places on record its thanks to the local organising committee in Busan and the KTTA... By continuing to work hard and in close cooperation with all stakeholders in Busan, the ITTF remains confident about putting on a great World Championships in June,” its statement read. Meanwhile, the TTFI has written to the world body, saying that it is ready to host the meet. “Our president has written to the ITTF and we are expecting a response shortly. If we get the green light, we will approach the government to chalk out plans,” TTFI secretary MP Singh told this daily.
The recently-concluded Asian Wrestling Championships in New Delhi saw Chinese grapplers not getting visas from the Indian government. When asked if that might be a problem, Singh said: “The entire Chinese contingent is quarantined and training in Qatar. So I don’t think it will be an issue.” The postponement of the world team event follows on the heels of the Asia Cup getting postponed as well. The other worry for ITTF is, following last week’s Hungary Open, the European leg is over and most remaining tournaments are scheduled in Asia. This being an Olympic year, ranking points and continental qualifiers are important for the players. “Most paddlers are asking the same questions.
How to qualify? Which points will be counted? Will the qualifiers even take place? As of now, there is no clarity,” India’s top-ranked player G Sathiyan said on his return to India after finishing his German league commitments. India’s Olympic hopefuls had plans to participate in the Korea Open, China Open, Hong Kong Open as well as the qualifiers in Bangkok in April. Also, training stints in either Korea or Japan were in the pipeline. These plans will have to be shelved, in favour of either safer pastures or even training at home. “Players from all over will have to reschedule and it is going to be a huge headache. But the more important thing is the global escalation of the virus. Instead of thinking of hosting events or rescheduling them, the priority should be the health of the people. Sports should take the back seat as of now,” senior India player A Sharath Kamal said from Denmark.