Muscat to host Asian Youth Table Tennis Championship in June

MUSCAT, FEB 23

The Oman Table Tennis Association (OTTA) will host the 30th edition of the Asian Youth Table Tennis Championship in the capital city Muscat during June 21 to 27. The prestigious continental event will take place at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex, bringing together Asia’s most promising young table tennis talents for a week of high-level competition. The decision was confirmed by the Asian Table Tennis Union (ATTU), which approved Oman’s bid as part of its 2026 calendar of major events across the continent.

The championship in Muscat is expected to attract qualifiers from four regional zones, ensuring wide representation and tight competition. The Central Asia qualification tournament will be staged in Almaty, Kazakhstan, from April 3 to 5. South Asia’s qualification rounds will take place during March and April, with the host country to be announced soon.

Singapore will organise the South East Asia qualifiers from April 14 to 19, while West Asia’s qualifying event will be held in Amman, Jordan, from March 26 to 27. Teams that secure qualification from these regions will vie in Muscat to compete for continental honours, making the Omani capital the focal point of Asian youth table tennis this summer.

The Asian Youth Championship in Muscat is part of a busy year for the sport across the Asian continent. Following the youth event, attention will shift to the 2026 Asian Games, scheduled for September 20 to 28 in Nagoya, Japan. The 2026 Asian Para Games will follow from October 16 to 23, before the curtain falls on the continental season with the 29th ITTF-ATTU Asian Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, from October 19 to 25.

HOSTING CAPABILITY

By hosting the youth championship, Oman further demonstrates its capability to stage international events at the highest standards as a reputation it has steadily built over recent years. Earlier this year, OTTA had managed successfully to host the WTT Contender Muscat 2026 in last January. More than 100 paddlers took part in the major TT event representing 34 countries including Australia, China, Chinese Taipei, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Italy, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Nepal, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, the United States, Wales, Malaysia, Jordan, South Korea, and the hosts Oman.

China’s World No 31 Wen Ruibo had lifted the men's singles title of WTT Contender Muscat 2026 after defeating Germany’s World No 20 Patrick Franziska in a thrilling seven-game final. In the women’s singles final, China’s World No 15 Shi Xunyao had delivered an authoritative performance to secure the title with a straight-game 4-0 win over her compatriot He Zhuojia, confirming China’s dominance in the singles categories.

It is expected that OTTA will host another major TT event represented by WTT Star Contender 2026 during coming November in Muscat following the successful maiden edition of the same event last year. World No 7 Felix Lebrun from France had defeated his brother and teammate Alixes Lebrun (World No 13) 4-3 in a thrilling final to clinch the men's title of WTT Star Contender Muscat 2025.