Bamakhalif elected as ITTF board member

Oman Table Tennis Association (OTTA) chairman, Abdullah Bamakhalif, was elected as board member of International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) on Wednesday for the 2021-2025 term during the Annual General Meeting in Houston, USA.

The 2021 AGM took place as a part of underway 2021 World Table Tennis Championships Finals in Houston.

Bamakhalif is the first Omani who have been elected for this position in ITTF. Swedish, Petra Sörling, was elected as President of the ITTF as the first woman since establishment of ITTF in 1926.

Oman’s delegation to the AGM was headed by OTTA chief, Abdullah Bamakhalif, and accompanied by Sajjad Baqir, the vice-chairman of OTTA.

Speaking after the election, Bamakhalif thanked all the member associations belong to ITTF for their confidence and trust on voting him for this position.

“It is great that Sultanate of Oman’s representative will be present in the ITTF board member. I will work hard with the team members in ITTF towards development and success of table tennis. Also, our aim is to strengthen the relationship with all national associations. Presence of Oman in ITTF will assist to improve the domestic personnel including players, coaches, umpires and admin members through attending in different programs and initiatives,” he added.

MUSCAT TO HOST WORLD VETERANS MEET

Muscat city will host the 2023 World Veteran Championships. “Benefiting from ITTF expertise will be utilized for hosting the globe veteran Championship in Muscat early 2023. The event will feature attendance of more than 5000 players representing different part of the world. It will be the top sporting event in the nation. Also, Oman will host the senior players in an international championship during February and this will be the third edition of the event,” he ended.

On the other hand, Oman’s duo paddlers Asad al Raisi and Muhannad al Balushi ended their campaign at the 2021 World Table Tennis Championships.

Oman’s team defeated by mix doubles team comprised by Belgian Robin Devos and Finland’s Benedek Olah 3-0 in the doubles category event. Attendance of the national players in the world championship assisted in improving players world ranking.

Oman national TT team made their debut at the ITTF World Table Tennis championship in 2017 in Dusseldorf city, Germany. The second participation was in 2019 ITTF World Table Tennis championship in Hungary.