MUSCAT, Oct 4
Abdullah Bamakhalif, Chairman of Oman Table Tennis Association (OTTA), was elected as board member of Asian Table Tennis Union (ATTU) during the Asian Congress in Doha on Sunday. OTTA vice-chairman, Sajad Mohammed Baqir was elected as treasurer for the 2021-2025 term.
Khalil al Mohannadi of Qatar was elected president of the Asian Table Tennis Union while Kim Taeksoo (South Korea), Xu Xin (China) were selected as deputy presidents and Afshin Badiee of Iran became the secretary-general.
Also in Doha, Oman senior TT team ended their campaign at the 2021 ITTF-ATTU Asian Table Tennis Championships. The Sultanate team paddlers represented by Asaad al Raisi, Muhannad al Balushi and Haitham al Mandhari suffered three losses in the team category competition. The first defeat was against Bahrain 3-0, while Oman lost to Indonesia 3-0 and then had same result against Afghanistan 3-0.
Bahrain topped the group with six points while Indonesia were second with five points. Afghanistan were third with four points and the Sultanate finished fourth with three points. In the 25th-28th position play-off, Oman defeated Kyrgyzstan 3-2 and the last match was against Maldives which Oman lost 3-2.
In the men’s doubles, Oman duo of Asaad al Raisi and Haitham al Mandhari lost to Japan 3-0.
In the men’s singles, Oman’s Muhannad al Balushi lost his match against Bangladesh’s Ahmed Muhsten 3-2 (11-7, 11-7, 11-7). Haitham al Mandhari suffered a 3-0 (11-2, 11-6, 11-5) loss against Jordan’s Hassan al Horani.
Saudi’s Abdulaziz al Shuelbi beat Oman’s Asad al Raisi 3-0.
Oman’s international umpires took part in the Asian event. The Sultanate’s umpires including Mohammed al Alawi, Al Julanda al Mawali, Hisham al Sibani and Ahmed al Abrawi officiated different matches including teams, doubles and singles competitions. The 2021 ITTF-ATTU Asian Table Tennis Championships became a new international experience for the Sultanate’s referees as well as the players.
