MUSCAT, Oct 19
Oman’s paddlers Asad al Raisi and Muhannad al Balushi will take part in the 2021 ITTF World Table Tennis championship which will be hosted in Houston, USA from November 23 to 29. The Omani duo will compete in the doubles category in the global event.
The ITTF selected the Omani paddlers after their attendance in the 25th edition of Asian Table Tennis Championship in Qatar last month. The Asian event assisted both players to improve their world ranking.
This is the third appearance of the Omani paddlers in the ITTF World Table Tennis championship after they made their debut in the 2017 ITTF World Table Tennis championship in Dusseldorf city, Germany. The second participation was in Hungary in 2019 while the third attendance will be in coming November in USA.
An intensive training plan was set for the Sultanate’s paddlers who will represent the team in 2021 ITTF World Table Tennis championship. The camp is under watchful eyes of the newly appointed coach Amid Shams Shahrbabaki from Iran who replaced the former Jordanian coach Mohammed Atoum.
The underway warm-up programme witnessed many training sessions to enhance the technical and physical sides. The Iranian head coach will focus on developing the tactical sides of the players ahead of taking in the world class event. Attendance of the national players in the world championship will assist in boosting players technical performance.
Recently, the Oman Table Tennis Association (OTTA) concluded hosting of 2021 WTT Youth Contender Muscat on a successful note. The event featured participants of more than 100 paddlers representing 16 countries from different part of the world. World Table Tennis (WTT) appreciated the OTTA efforts to organise this events despite the challenges of Covid circumstances.
“The 2021 WTT Youth Contender Muscat delivered and showcased to the world your ability to hold events and sets the bar for others to follow. It is an incredible and impressive accomplishment,” the WTT officials said.
