KARACHI: Pakistan put up a dismal show when their men’s team finished at the bottom and at the lowest ever 22nd spot in the 22nd Asian Table Tennis Championship at Pattaya, Thailand, on Monday.

After finishing runners-up in their group in the first stage, Pakistan lost all classification matches one after the other to achieve a new low in the history of the game. They were blanked 3-0 by Yemen before Kyrgyzstan and Macao cruised to 3-2 victories over them respectively.

Pakistan was once ranked amongst the top six nations in Asia behind world powerhouse China, South Korea, North Korea, Japan and Chinese Taipei but the recent performance shows that there is a marked decline in the standard of the game in the country.

Contrary to men’s team, Pakistan women’s team jumped two places to finish at 15th. Pakistan inflicted 3-2 defeat on Macau to not only grab the 15th spot but avenge for the loss of their men’s team at the hands of the latter.

Results:

Men’s classifications match for 15th to 22nd positions.Pakistan lost to Yemen 0-3Mohammad Rameez lost to Muneer Al Dhubhani 11-9, 8-11, 3-11, 11-13; Asim Qureshi lost to Ali Omar 6-11, 5-11, 4-11; Shujat Ali lost to Taha Al-Mahaqeri 7-11, 7-11, 9-11.

Classifications match for 19th to 22nd positions.Pakistan lost to Kyrgyzstan 2-3Mohammad Rameez lost to Ali Sher Iakupbaev 8-11, 5-11, 4-11; Asim Qureshi bt Azamat Ergeshov 6-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-3; Shujat Ali lost to Zhasur Khudaibardiev 11-7, 8-11, 8-11, 6-11; Asim Qureshi bt Ali Sher Iakupbaev 11-8, 11-4, 5-11, 11-9; Mohammad Rameez lost to Azamat Ergeshov 11-5, 6-11, 10-12, 8-11.

Classifications match for 21th and 22nd positions.Pakistan lost to Macao 2-3Mohammad Rameez lost toWa Chang Hoi 6-11, 11-6, 5-11, 11-8, 5-11; Asim Qureshi bt Pan Che Chi 9-11, 11-9, 11-3, 2-11, 11-9; Abdul Rahim bt Kei Lei Man 11-8, 11-9, 16-14; Asim Qureshi lost to Wa Chang Hoi 9-11, 8-11, 11-9, 9-11; Mohammad Rameez lost to Pan Che Chi 11-7, 8-11, 11-9, 6-11, 6-11.

Positions from 15th to 22nd15-Qatar, 16-Indonesia, 17-Sri Lanka, 18-Yemen, 19-Mongolia, 20-Kyrgyzstan, 21-Macao, 22-Pakistan.

Women’s classifications match for 13th to 18th position.Pakistan got bye

Classifications match for 13th to 16th position.Pakistan lost to Kazakhstan 1-3.Shabnam Bilal lost to Anastassiya Lavrova 7-11, 12-10, 4-11, 5-11; Rahila Kashif lost to Nataliya Sladkova 11-8, 2-11, 8-11, 11-9, 5-11; Aisha Ansari bt Yuliya Gats 6-11, 11-3, 13-11, 11-5; Shabnam Bilal lost to Nataliya Sladkova 7-11, 13-15, 7-11.

Classifications match for 15th and 16nd positions.Pakistan bt Macao 3-2 Positions from 13th to 18th13-Kazakhstan, 14-Malaysia, 15-Pakistan, 16-Maco, 17-Uzbekistan, 18-Indonesia

Published in Dawn September 29th, 2015

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