I WOULD like to applaud the efforts made by the Singapore Table Tennis Association since the world's table tennis governing body, the International Table Tennis Federation, implemented a restriction on player migration in February 2008. Under the new ruling, a player will only be eligible to play for the new association three, five or seven years from the date of registration, if the player is under the age of 15, 18 or 21, respectively.
If the player is 21 years of age or older, he will not be registered with the ITTF and not eligible to represent his or her new association at world title events.
Last April, current STTA president Lee Bee Wah stated that she hoped to field local players in the 2016 Olympics, given the strong commitment shown by the current batch of shortlisted youth players.
In Today sports editor Leonard Thomas' commentary, "Much better home-made" (Nov 21, 2009), he echoed the sentiment that one of the STTA president's goals should be to try and turn local talent, like 16-year-old Pang Xue Jie, into world-class athletes.
