Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Halmstad ( Sweden), May 4
The two Koreas will field a combined women’s team at the table tennis World Championships after the nations decided not to compete against each other in the quarterfinals, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) said on Thursday. North and South Korea asked to field a unified team for the semifinals of the championships, which will be played against Japan on Friday in Halmstad, Sweden.
The last time a unified Korea team played the world table tennis championships was in 1991 in Chiba, Japan, where the women’s team shocked defending champions China to win the gold medal. The decision to form a unified team was a tripartite agreement between the leaders of the North and South Korean Table Tennis teams and the ITTF. “I’m happy. It’s a bit of a risk of course as this is not 100 percent according to the rules,” said ITTF president Thomas Weikert. “But there’s no disadvantage to the teams before and we informed all the (other) teams and they agreed… we all feel happy that we have a small sign in the process of the reunion of Korea.
“We respect the rules, yes we changed them, but we will never do that again, and it’s more than a sport, it’s more for the peace… I think it’s worth it.”
The move follows the North and South Korean leaders’ pledge to work for “complete denuclearization” of the Korean peninsula last week. The two Koreas had earlier this year joined forces to field a combined women’s ice hockey team at the Pyeongchang Winter Games after they marched together for the opening ceremony.
