MUSCAT: Iranian ranking player, Sepehr Etemadpoor defeated Bahrain’s Yousif Thani 3-2 to snatch the title of 2023 Oman Squash Open on Thursday at the squash hall of Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Bausher. Kuwait’s Athbi Hamed blanked Egyptian player Omar Afifi 3-2 to finish third in the play-off match. In the semis, the champions Sepehr won against Athbi 3-0 while Yousif ended the challenge of Afifi by the same result.
Hisham bin Juma al Sinani, General Director of Welfare and Sports Development in the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth, was the chief guest for the concluding ceremony in the presence of Dr Abdulrahim bin Musallam al Droushi, Chairman of Oman Racket Sports Committee (ORSC). The chief guest delivered the awards and cash prizes to the top winners with a total cash prize of $1,900. The first placed winner Sepehr Etemadpoor received $1,000 and the trophy while Yousif Thani from Bahrain has been awarded $500. Kuwait’s Athbi Hamed and Omar Afifi from Egypt who finished in the third and fourth places got $250 and $150 respectively.
The three days event was classified as the first PSA tournament in Muscat under organisation of ORSC in cooperation with global organisation of PSA and BWF. The event featured strong competitions among the participants from many top local players who already have BWF rankings besides other overseas players from Bahrain, Kuwait, Iran, Pakistan, Egypt, Philippines, India and Tunisia.
The Iranian winner Etemadpoor began his campaign in the tournament with a match against Said al Hajri in the last 16 round. He managed to end the match at 3-0 before beating another local player Waleed al Niri 3-0 in the quarters. In the semifinal, Etemadpoor trashed Kuwait’s Athbi Hamed 3-0 and then Bahrain’s Yousif Thani 3-2 in the final match to snatch the title.
Big success
The chief guest Hisham al Sinani expressed his satisfactory on the success of 2023 Oman Squash Open event. “ It was a high class event as it featured participants from the international ranking players beside some local ranking players. It is very crucial to provide a proper environment for the domestic players to gain the right exposure and expertise by playing against top players. Really impressed with ORSC hard works since its formation in last July towards boosting Racket Sports in the Sultanate of Oman,” he said
Thrilling outcomes
Dr Abdulrahim bin Musallam al Droushi, Chairman of (ORSC), affirmed that this event produced many thrilling outcomes. “ Hosting this event under international recognition from PSA and BWF gave a great boost for the event. Oman has the right infrastructures with proper venues, human resources that can manage the hosting of the events beside an official Racket Sports Committee under supervision of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth. All these will put Oman in a better position to host bigger event in the forthcoming period,” he added
The chief of ORSC concluded his statement with special thanks to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth for the continuous support. “ Another thanks goes to all the overseas and local players who took part in the event and registered the success of this tournament,” he signed out.
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