MUSCAT, JULY 26
As many as six paddlers from Oman Table Tennis team are taking part in the West Asian Table Tennis Championship which began in Amman, Jordan, on Tuesday and will continue until Sunday. Oman team paddlers are competing in U-11, U-13, U-15 and U-17 categories. The head coach of Oman TT team, Iranian Omid Shamas Sharbabki, opted Ahmed al Riyami, Loqman al Farsi, Turki al Abri, Moayad al Mutawa, Iyad al Jassasi, and Ali al Rawahi as squad members of the Oman team.
In U-13 category, Oman team suffered a 3-1 loss against Lebanon in the opener on Tuesday. Oman U-13 paddlers placed in group A beside Lebanon and United Arab Emirates (UAE) teams. Oman’s U-13 team is represented by Turki al Abri, Moayad al Mutawa, Iyad al Jassasi and Ali al Rawahi. In U-15 category, Oman team was clubbed with Saudi Arabia, UAE and Kuwait teams in Group 2. In this group, UAE team beat Kuwait 3-2. Oman U-15 team comprised Ahmed al Riyami, Turki al Abri and Moayad al Mutawa.
A total of 12 countries are attending the tournament in Amman including: Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Yemen, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq and the hosts Jordan.
Oman’s international umpire Maryam al Alawi has been nominated to officiate as an umpire in the event. She has officiated many games in the opening day including Qatar and Iraq match in the U-15 category competitions. The match finished for Qatar team 3-1.
In the 2019 edition of West Asian Championships in Jordan, Omani paddlers had showed an impressive performance as they managed to capture third place. Oman’s paddlers had defeated United Arab Emirates 3-1 in the third/fourth place match. It is expected Oman paddlers may achieve top places in the existing edition in different junior categories.
