Thursday 18 / September / 2025
Muscat: Spanish player George Lopez stole the show by booking a place in two finals at the Villerroy & Boch +Hansgrohe Open Table Tennis Tournament organised by the Indian Social Club (ISC).
Lopez fought against all odds, played three back to back matches and in the process earned himself a place in the final of the men’s singles and the veterans singles.
A committed player that he is, Lopez first caused a major upset when beat top seed Marconi Leonardo in the quarterfinals of the veterans singles.
In a thrilling match that went the distance, Marconi and Lopez were involved in a keen tussle before Lopez rallied from two games down for a 7-11, 1-13, 11-6, 11-8, 12-10 verdict.
Lopez showed great fighting qualities when he rallied from a game down in the semifinal to oust fourth seed Ashraf Ghali 8-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-8, 11-9 to earn a place in the veterans singles final.
Lopez then featured in the semifinal of the men’s singles which also went to the wire when he edged past Egyptian Ahmed Abdul Azeem in seven thrilling games 11-5, 7-11-5, 5-11, 9-11, 13-11, 11-7 to enter the men’s singles final, which will be played on Wednesday.
Mohamad Zaheeruddin Khan earned the right to take on George Lopez in the final of the veterans singles.
In the semifinal, Khan overcame the loss of the first game and played some delightful table tennis to defeat Zeinhom Abou Shehata 9-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-3, 11-3. Zeinhom had earlier defeated R. Murali 11-5, 11-8, 10-12, 11-5 in the quarterfinals.
