Pakistan pull out of Commonwealth Table Tennis

The 15th Commonwealth Table Tennis championships suffered a setback hours before they were to start with Pakistan pulling out of the tournament.

The Pakistan team, which was cleared by the Indian Government to participate, was scheduled to arrive here this evening by bus from Lahore but the Table Tennis Federation of India received a message conveying Pakistan's withdrawal at the very last minute.

TTFI sources said here that they received a phone call from the Pakistani federation Friday evening informing them of the withdrawal from the Championships starting in New Dehi on Saturday. No reasons were given, the sources said.

Apparently this development was a fall-out of India's refusal to play against Pakistan in cricket.