Reports | TTFI still awaiting government clearance for World Table Tennis Championships

There is some trouble for the Indian paddlers as their participation in the upcoming World Table Tennis Championships is yet to be cleared by the central government. TTFI is still awaiting a nod from the government regarding India’s participation and there is a delay in the formalities at the moment for the tournament which is scheduled to be played from April 21 to 28. 

The world body - International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has also expressed its displeasure to the TTFI regarding the delay. The TTFI was supposed to send the complete itinerary of the Indian contingent and the world body might impose a penalty if the Indian federation fails to send the plan soon. This Championship is important keeping the ranking points for the Tokyo Olympic qualifiers in mind.

"We need to tell ITTF about the flight schedule and accommodation, like how many hotel rooms we require for the team members. But how can we when the government hasn't cleared the trip?" TTFI secretary MP Singh told TOI.

"The team is to leave on April 19 and we haven't got the clearance till today. Only 8-10 working days are left for the processing of the visa application. Even if the trip is cleared by Friday or Monday next week, it will still take at least a week or, so to get the visas. If we don't get the clearance by Monday, the trip will be in jeopardy.”

Top players of India like Achanta Sharath Kamal, Manika Batra and Sathiyan Ganasekaran will be eying the tournament and their visa processing can only be done after they return from their campaign at the ongoing Asian Cup in Japan. The TTFI secretary has also added that considering the participation in the Championship is mandatory, the federation will send the players at its own cost.

"We need a clarity from the government on how long it will take them to clear the trip. Accordingly, we will move ahead with the visa applications. We had planned a national camp in Denmark from April 9-19, but we will have to cancel it," explained Singh.