KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 17 — Israel have pulled out of the World Team Table Tennis Championships from Feb 28 to March 6.
No reason was given but Israel had said last week they had still not been issued visas to compete in Shah Alam.
International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) chief executive officer Judit Farago had insisted Israel must allowed to compete or Malaysia could be banned from hosting future tournaments.
She also said the World Championships would be scrapped and Malaysia to foot the cancellation costs if the visas were not issued.
That has been averted with Israel withdrawing from the tournament. Peru and Azerbaijan have also pulled out.
Table Tennis Association of Malaysia (TTAM) secretary Chan Foong Keong said: “It is a common problem in table tennis — teams pulling out at the last minute.”
ITTF media manager Matt Pound, who attended the main draw yesterday, said Israel had chosen not to participate.
He said TTAM were not at fault and chances of Malaysia hosting future world tournaments were not jeopardised by Israel’s change of heart.
“TTAM have carried out their duties and have nothing to be worried about,” he said.
Meanwhile, the national men’s team are in Group A with China, Taiwan, Romania, Romania, Hungary and Spain while the women’s team are in Group B with Germany, Sweden, France, Denmark and England.
“We have a young team, this will be a good training ground for them,” said national coach, Beh Lee Wei.
“I want the team to work harder and not be discouraged because others may be better, if we train hard, moving up the ranks is not impossible.”
Muhd Shakirin Ibrahim, Leong Chee Feng and Muhamad Ashraf Haiqal make up the men’s team while Ng Sock Khim heads the women’s team with Ho Ying and Manada Wong Ee Ling.
