Muscat, March 10 - The Oman Table Tennis Committee (OTTC) in coordination with International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) are set to commence the competitions of the 2020 ITTF Challenge Plus (Oman Open) on Wednesday at the indoor hall of Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex.
The five-day tournament will feature participation of nearly 100 players, coaches and administrative members representing 25 countries.
Oman’s paddlers have completed their preparations for the high profile TT event. Oman’s top player Asad al Raisi, who was the men’s singles champion last season, will take part in the tournament besides to Muhannad al Balushi, Muadh al Shehi and Essa al Riyami. Jordanian coach Moahmmed Atoum is in charge of the team.
Sajjad al Lawati, board member of Oman Table Tennis Committee.[/caption]
On Wednesday, Asad al Raisi will take on the Nigerian AbdulRahman Abdullah in Group B, while Muadh al Shehi will meet India’s Manish Shah in Group A in the men’s singles category. Essa al Riyami will play against USA’s Mishel Levinski.
Tunisian Younis Maher will be the tournament director while international umpire Peter Bahamoski from Czech Republic is the general referee of the tournament with an assistant from Costa Rica.
Several categories will be featured in the tournament including men’s and women’s singles and doubles and U-21 men’s and women’s singles and doubles. Around eight tables are set at the venue of the competitions beside to the other TT tables arranged for training.
Sajjad al Lawati, OTTC board member, stated that having the ITTF Challenge Plus (Oman Open) for the second consecutive year is a big occasion for the country. “The first edition of Oman Open had registered a large success which encouraged us to do a another edition this year. We tried our best to satisfy all the ITTF requirements and the organising team has a good experience in managing and organising such top table tennis events,” he said.
The 2020 ITTF Challenge Plus (Oman Open) will have an international media coverage through the attendance of Austrian media team who will broadcast for the ITTF website. Q TV will also be available besides to the domestic strategic media partner Oman TV. A team from Arab Table Tennis Federation will cover the matches and live stream the matches.
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