Muscat, Oct 10

Oman’s paddlers Ayman al Shehi and Luqman al Farsi progressed into second round of the 2021 WTT Youth Contender Muscat which began in Muscat on Sunday.

Al Shehi managed to earn the direct ticket to the next round after beating UAE’s player Dhiyab al Balushi 3-0 ( 8-11, 8-11, 9-11) in fifth group of U17 Boys’ Singles. Luqman al Farsi registered a 3-0 win over Nigerian Adegoke Muizz Olawale.

In the fifth group, Ayman al Shehi positioned as the runner up in the fifth group with three points while Saudi Arabia Salim al Suwaliem led the group by four points.

In the knock out stages at last 32 round , Qatar’s Ali Yousef beat Oman’s AymanAL Shehi 3-0 while Loqman al Farsi knocked out by Bangladesh’s Ridoy Mohutasin Ahmed. Indian players dominated in the U-17 singles as four paddlers secured in last 16 round including Jian Payas, Shankhadip, Ankur Bhattacharjee and Preyesh Raj Suresh.

Coach Adnan Fawakhergi, technical supervisor, expressed his satisfaction on the players performance at 2021 WTT Youth Contender Muscat. “ Despite lack of preparatory camps due to Covid pandemic impact on the sports field, our players managed to compete with different ranking players and showed top performance. We hope better show form our paddlers in the U-15 and U-19,” he ended.

Jose Benets, competition manager from ITTF, appreciated all the arrangements made by the Oman Table Tennis Association (OTTA). “Thanks to OTTA for all the set up for the venue and providing all the requirements for the success of the event. The venue and all the provided facilities are perfect and looking for an exciting tournament,” he concluded

The competition of U-11, U-15 and U-19 will take place on Monday. All the group matches will be held in the morning sessions while the knockout stages will be held during evening session.