MUSCAT: WTT Contender Muscat 2024 is underway at Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex as the competitions of the preliminary rounds heats up. In the men’s singles preliminary rounds, Hong Kong’s Yu Kwan managed to earn his first victory by defeating Iranian Hamid Shams Shahrebabaki 3-1 while Hong Kong’s Lee Hong Ming advanced to the second round after a decisive 3-0 win against Iranian Amir Hossein.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Ho Kaun Kit won over his opponent Kwan Man Ho with a 3-1 score and Chinese paddler Yuan Lixin claimed an impressive 3-1 victory over Indian player Baez Jain.
Korean Jang Seung-il achieved a 3-0 win over Oman’s Ghassan al Ghassani, while the national paddler Badr al Jassasi suffered a 3-0 loss against South Korean Hyung Koo. Iranian Amir Mahdi defeated Singapore’s Chiu Zhi 3-0, while Oman’s Muhannad al Balushi lost 3-0 to Iran’s Bani Amin Faraji. Singapore’s Choi Chen took a 3-0 win by default against Egypt’s Omar Ali, who withdrew from the match. In the women’s singles preliminaries, Oman’s talented paddler Talya al Rawahi began her debut at WTT Contender but lost her opening match 3-0 to Iranian Mahshid Eshtari.
The six-day event is under organisation of Oman Table Tennis Association (OTTA) in collaboration with the World Table Tennis (WTT). The event sees 120 participants from 22 countries including China, Croatia, France, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Serbia, Slovakia, Sweden, Taiwan, Yemen, Bahrain, Palestine, Egypt, Czech and the hosts Oman.
Iranian player Amir Mahdi said following his win, "I am thrilled with this opening victory and look forward to the next round. I aim to reach the main round where all the ranked players are competing, which offers a great opportunity for ranking advancement."
Hong Kong’s Yu Kwan too shared his excitement over his first win. “ It is always great to begin your campaign on a successful note. It is really important to secure victory in the early match of the competition,” he said.
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