MUSCAT: The Sultanate national table tennis championship for teams (junior, youth and senior categories) will begin at Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex indoor hall on Thursday. The Oman Table Tennis Committee (OTTC), the organisers of the event, have completed the preparation for the tournament. Saham, Dhofar, Al Ittifaq and Nizwa sealed their qualification spot to the junior section finals in the last qualification stage held in July. Saham, Al Ittifaq, Ibri and Nizwa will compete in the youth finals. All the clubs have been preparing during last few months to compete for the top positions in this tournament.
Seven professional players will take part in this edition of the championship for first time with different local clubs. Jordanian Zayed Yousef, champion of Salalah international table tennis tournament in 2016, will play for Seeb club. Bahraini player Anwar Makai will be part of Al Nahda club. Indian player Rohan Ghossi has signed up with Oman club, while Adnan Fawkharji from Syria will play for Ibri. Ali Lashim, former player of Sporting Sakandi club, will play for Saham. The other two professional players from Egypt and Yemen will be part of Dhofar and Samayil club respectively.
Previously, only few clubs were the main competitors to lift the shield. However, the presence of professional players will change the equation of competitions and will play a significant role to boost the technical level of the tournament.
The championship — which lasts for four days — will also include final matches in singles (hopes, youth and senior) players. Nasser al Balushi will take on Haitham al Mandhari in the final of youth category. In senior section, Haitham al Mandhari reached another final as he will take on Muhannad al Balushi for the title. The earlier stages of singles matches were held in April at the SQSC. According to the OTTC, all the singles final matches are to be held on Sunday, the final day of the championship.
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