Saturday 20 / April / 2024
Muscat: As many as four Saudi Arabian paddlers recorded victories in the main draw of the Oman Fibre Optic Open International Table Tennis Tournament at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex on Saturday.
The tournament, being organised by Oman Table Tennis Committee, has attracted over 100 players from 20 countries, including hosts Oman, Jordan, Iraq, Ukraine, Italy, Pakistan, Bahrain, Poland, Belarus, Czech Republic, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Sudan, Syria, Serbia, the Philippines, Lebanon, Egypt, Nigeria and India.
In the main draw of the singles played on Saturday, four Saudi Arabian players advanced to the second round.
While Abdulaziz Al Abbad moved up after a first round bye, his Saudi compatriot Abdulaziz Bu Shulaybi advanced after a 3-1 victory over Ossama Antar of Egypt.
Two other Saudi Arabian paddlers Faisal Al Mutairi and Khaled Al Harbi also moved up after defeating India’s Lakashay Suri 3-1 and Oman’s Thamer Al Agbari 3-0 respectively.
Meanwhile, India’s Manik Singh and Utkarsh Gupta also advanced to the next round. Manik Singh defeated Pakistan’s Mian Abbas Ali 3-0 and Gupta accounted for Hassan Imam, also of Pakistan, in a 3-0 win.
However, there was some good news for Pakistan as Fahed Khawaaja moved into the next round with a 3-0 win over local lad Ismail Al Silaimani.
In other games, Denmark’s Mikks Hindersson defeated Poland’s Jarek Klamut 3-0, Iraq’s Ahmed Abdalhassan defeated Oman’s Anwar Al Balushi by a similar 3-0 margin.
Egypt’s Ahmed Gamal moved up after defeating Poland’s Adrian Glab 3-0, Poland’s Michal Korycki beat Saudi Arabia’s Ahmed Al Kareer, Syria’s Ahmad Darwish recorded a 3-1 win over India’s Shivjit Lamba Singh, Poland’s Michal Dabrowski beat Oman’s Abdullah Al Zaabi 3-0, Bahrain’s Alyas Al Yassi scored a 3-0 win over Pakistan’s Syd Obaid Shah and Poland’s Pawel Gasiorski won 3-0 against Egypt’s Mohamed Al Naggar.
