Lucknow: With table tennis struggling for
its survival in Bangladesh, former national champion of the
neighbouring country Al Mostafa Billah calls the federation
back home to follow the Indian format to resuscitate the game
in the South Asian nation.
Billah, a former student of Netaji Subhash Institute of
Sports (NIS) in Patiala, feels Bangladesh table tennis should
follow the structure of India to revive the indoor sport in
the country.
"The condition of table tennis in Bangladesh is not very
good. Lack of professionalism is the main problem there. The
game is battling for survival. I think, we should follow the
Indian structure to set things right," Billah said.
In the absence of institutional back-ups, who provide
with job security to the talented players and help them groom,
table tennis as a profession is not that lucrative in
Bangladesh, rued Billah.
"In India, players get the institutional support what
lacks in Bangladesh. Also, the domestic league structure is
weak. And soaring popularity of cricket has added to the
problem.
"We are now trying to reshape the condition there and
seriously need India's help to achieve the target," said
Billah on the sideline of the 19th Asian Table Tennis
Championships here.
Billah is here with his brother and sister-in-law, who
are also members of the 10-member Bangladesh team
participating in the prestigious event.
The 2005 national champion of Bangladesh expressed his
happiness over his nation's performance in the tournament and
hoped this will give much required boost to the game back
home.
"The performance we have produced this time is probably
the best in the history of our country's table tennis. We have
beaten teams like Laos, Jordan, Nepal and given quite tough
fight to others as well.
"Our federation is also very happy with the performance.
I earnestly hope this success would help the cause of the game
back home. So we are returning with some positives from the
event," he said.
Billah, who also has few years' coaching experience
under his belt, wants more Indians to play in their domestic
clubs in order to improve the standard of their own players.
"Several Indian paddlers, specially from Kolkata have
played on our soil and I hope that the practice would continue
in the coming days. It will certainly help our cause," he
said.
"We are expecting some good performance in next year's
Asian Games (in China) to start with the revival process. And
yes, we would also come back to India for the Commonwealth
Games (in Delhi)," Billah signed off.
Bureau Report
First Published: Sunday, November 22, 2009, 12:53