Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
broken clouds
weather
OMAN
23°C / 23°C
EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Oman to host ITTF World Veteran Championships in 2022

Sport-25-04-19-01
Sport-25-04-19-01
minus
plus

MUSCAT, April 24 - Oman will host the 21st ITTF World Veteran Championships (WVC) in 2022 as the Sultanate’s bid successfully accepted and approved by The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) during the Annual General Meeting (AGM) which was held in Budapest city on April 23.  Oman’s delegation was chaired by Abdullah BaMukhalef, chairman of Oman Table Tennis Committee (OTTC), presented an overall report that included all the requirements of ITTF to organise such top level events, availability of facilities to all the participants at the global event and a detailed report about Oman including the infrastructure, tourist attractions and the safety and security in the country.


OTTC chairman stated that hosting World Veteran Championships will require coordination with all government and private sector and related entities. “We will have a clear plan that will include all the milestones and activities to lead for the success of the world ranking event. We need involvement from everybody. It is one of the biggest sports event ever in the Sultanate”.


Abdullah BaMukhalef, OTTC Chairman[/caption]

Abdullah Bamukhalef affirmed that the OTTC through the last few years from the formation of the committee has set the top goals and targets including boosting table tennis in all the wilayats of the Sultanate. “The committee worked in few years back to organise world ranking events which support your goals and visions. Hosting ITTF World Veteran Championships at home will spread all the OTTC missions and will be an additional value to the national economy of the country. In addition to that, it will be a significant tool to promote Oman globally and deliver the right messages on the tourism attractions through different media channels including the power of social media,” OTTC chief added. The Sultanate represented by OTTC is the first Arabian country to host this prestigious event which normally awarded the top countries who has the full ability and capability and experienced human resources to monitor the world class event. Oman Convention & Exhibition Centre (OCEC) will be the venue for the World Veteran Championships as the huge hall can accommodate more than 200 tables at the same time.


ITTF President Thomas Weikert, Vice-President Khalil al Muhannadi and the ITTF CEO Steve Dainton visited the OCEC in last March on the sidelines of their presence at ITTF Challenge Plus (Oman 2019) tournament. They expressed their satisfaction on the venue and the provided facilities there.


The previous editions of the ITTF World Veteran Championships (WVC) was held in many different countries. Canada hosted the event in 2000 while Switzerland in 2002. Asian giants Japan, organised the event in 2004 and Germany in 2006. The event was back to Asia in 2010 as China hosted the championships while Sweden was the organiser in 2012. New Zealand accommodated the event in 2014 while Spain in 2016. The last edition was held in USA while the upcoming edition will be in France in 2020.


The OTTC received appreciation from the officials at ITTF for the previous events and tournaments that was held in the Sultanate. The ITTF chief and members thanked OTTC for their effort in organising Arabian, regional and International events successfully in the last few years. OTTC organised Arabian Championship in August 2017, ITTF Junior tournament in February in 2018 and ITTF Challenge Plus (Oman 2019) tournament last March.


Beside the local events, OTTC organised a series of local tournaments and activities that support a lot in spreading the culture of table tennis in the Sultanate. OTTC launched table tennis in many clubs and appointed technical staff in each junior center in coordination with clubs. Also, the OTTC chairman signed an agrrement with Oman School Sports Association to organise specialized tournaments for the students during the year and to select the talented players to represent the national team in the international tournaments.


SHARE ARTICLE
arrow up
home icon