Sunday 22 / December / 2024
Muscat: The Sultanate of Oman represented by Oman Table Tennis Association (OTTA) in coordination with World Table Tennis (WTT) is all set to host WTT contender which will kick off on Monday at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Muscat.
The six-days tournament featured participation of 120 paddlers, referees, officials representing 22 countries across the World including: China, Croatia, France, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Serbia, Slovakia, Sweden, Chinese Taipei, Yemen, Bahrain, Palestine, Egypt, Czech and the hosts Sultanate of Oman. OTTA completed all organsational and logistics preparations to ensure a suitable environment for the players and team’s staff. The paddlers and officials from different part of the world arrived to Muscat to commence their training sessions ahead of competitions start during the evening session on Monday.
This is the second international event which is hosted in Muscat for this current year. In last August and September, OTTA had hosted WTT Feeder Muscat 2024 with nearly 100 participants took part in the event.
Four paddlers from Oman will represent the national team in this world-class event including: Muhannad al Balushi, Badr al Jassasi, Ghasan al Ghassani and Nasser al Balushi. The domestic paddlers well trained under the watchful eyes of the Iranian coach Omid Shams Sharhabaki who has been focusing on a range of technical and tactical training areas. This championship represents a major opportunity for Oman’s players to gain experience and improve their international rankings. National players expected to compete singles and doubles qualifications.
The event offers a total cash prize of $80,000 in five disciplines including men’s and women’s singles/doubles and mixed doubles.
Top ranking paddlers will vie for the events titles including: World ranking 7# LIN Shidong from China, OH Junsung (ranked #32) from South Korea, Japanese paddler Yukiya UDA (ranked #40) and beside many other players across the players.
At the Women’s top seeding players, Satsuki ODO from Japan (ranked 17), QIAN Tianyi from China (ranked 18), KIM Nayeong (ranked #39) from South Korea and many other paddlers.
