MUSCAT: Turki al Abri, Ibri young paddler, claimed the title of national Hopes Singles TT Championship after defeated his rivals Nasser al Zaabi from Saham 3-0 in the final clash on Friday, at the main indoor hall in Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex.
Al Abri produced an excellent performance to end all the sets on a successful note while his opponent Nasser al Zaabi worked very hard to return the match into the origin point but Ibri’s player managed to end the game on his side. Ali al Ajmi from Saham club bagged the third place award as he beat his teammate Nasser al Balushi in the third and fourth playoff.
As many as 57 players took part in the national Hopes Singles table tennis Championship representing different domestic clubs including: Masirah, Seeb, Salalah, Ibri, Yanqul, Al Ittifaq, Qurayat, Nakhal and Saham. All the players were distributed into 14 groups and each group comprised from four players. The toppers and the second placed teams from each group advanced to the knockouts stages.
The champion Turki al Abri progressed from the eighth group as he registered full marks from two games against Said al Alawi (Yanqul) and Anwar al Sabqi (Al Ittifaq). Then, he beat Tariq al Jassasi (Ibri) in the 32nd round before emerging a win over Yazn al Ghafri in the round of 16. In quarters, the winner of the event registered a tough win against his teammate Ali al Rawahi and he outclassed over Ali al Ajmi in semis and then Nasser al Zaabi in the final.
After the match completion, the young champion Turki al Abri expressed his joy in the new achievement. “ I am very glad to win this title and this will encourage me to do much better in the upcoming domestic and abroad events. I am attending in the ongoing ITTF international camp in Muscat and I will join in the following camp of the national teams in this week. I will eye to register better accomplishments in the forthcoming championships,” he ended.
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