MUSCAT: The Sultanate of Oman represented by Oman Table Tennis Association (OTTA) is all set to host one of the most prestigious table tennis event as WTT Star Contender Muscat 2025 to start on Monday. The six-day international championship, organised by OTTA in collaboration with World Table Tennis (WTT), will kick off on Monday and run until Saturday at the both main halls of the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Bousher.
World No. 5 Felix Lebrun of France, one of the youngest global sensations in men’s table tennis, will arrive in Muscat on Monday to headline the world-class field competing for top honours. Pre-qualification matches will take place on Monday and Tuesday, while the main draw begins on Wednesday.
Beside young French player, many others top ranking players to take part in the competitions including: Darko Joric from Slovenia, Lin Yun -Ju from China, Alexis Lebrun from France, and Dang Qiu from Germany. The top five women’s singles are: Satsuki Odo from Japan, Hina Hayata from Japan, Bernadette Szocs from Romania, Miyu Nagasaki from Japan, and Cheng I-ching from Chinese Taipei.
More than 300 participants representing 32 countries will compete in Muscat, making it one of the largest WTT Star Contender events of the season. The participants representing: China, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Chinese Taipei, Croatia, Czech, Denmark, Egypt, England, France, Germany, India, Iran, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Luxembourg, Nigeria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Wales, Yemen and the hosts Oman.
This event is taking place in Muscat for the first time as the highest category ever staged in the Sultanate of Oman following several successful WTT Contender events held in previous years. OTTA earned the confidence of WTT and the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) to stage the Star Contender after extensive evaluations and site visits earlier this year.
This edition of the event will introduce several upgrades, including: Full utilisation of two connected competition halls using advanced broadcast technology, a newly installed lighting system in the secondary hall to meet WTT’s technical standards, Centralised technical control linking results, live scoring, and broadcast feeds directly to WTT and ITTF platforms and enhanced spaces for players, umpires, international officials, and media teams.
Players will compete across five categories including: Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles, and Mixed Doubles. The event will provide a total prize cash of $300,000. The national team players will also take part in the tournament like: Muhannad al Balushi, Ahmed al Riyami, Ghassan al Ghassani, Luqman al Farsi, and Bilal al Rashdi. Oman players will receive the right environment to gain technical exposure, ranking points, and experience against the world’s elite.
ESSENTIAL MOMENT FOR OMAN
Abdullah bin Mohammed Bamakhalaf, Chairman of OTTA said that hosting WTT Star Contender represents a major milestone for table tennis in Oman.
" This edition comes with completely new organisational and technical standards. The confidence of ITTF and WTT in Oman reflects years of hard work and commitment to hosting world-class events. We invite the public to attend this historic tournament and enjoy watching the top global champions live in Muscat." he concluded.
Tournament Director, Sajjad al Lawati, affirmed that preparations exceeded all minimum requirements to ensure an exceptional event. "This was a major technical challenge, especially linking two halls with advanced broadcast technology. All thanks to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth for their cooperation. We are ready and we will look forward to delivering a world-class event." he ended.
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