(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
QNA Doha: Table tennis stars booked 18 spots at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games after the conclusion of the World Olympic Qualifiers and the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Doha at the Ali bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena in Al Sadd Club.
Many world champions and top-ranked players participated in the events which took place amid strict precautionary measures, during which the health bubble system was implemented to prevent the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19).
Iranian No.4 seed Nima Alamian will represent his country with pride in Tokyo after securing top spot in the Central Asia region men's singles event, ittf.com reported yesterday.
A gruelling affair, Alamian was on the backfoot early on against Zokhid Kenjaev with the no.3 seed from Uzbekistan claiming the opening two games.
However, a commanding display from Alamian in game three played a crucial role in the outcome of the match with momentum quickly swinging to the Iranian. Three games later and it was Alamian who left the court with his ticket to the Japanese capital (8-11, 7-11, 11-4, 11-4, 13-11, 11-7).
Central Asia was also the focus of the second singles final of the day as the top seed in the region's women's singles draw, Kazakhstan's Anastassiya Lavrova met the tournament's surprise package in Uzbekistan's Markhabo Magdieva, seeded sixth.
Two players aware of the prize on offer, the final proved an exciting contest with all six games decided by no more than a three point margin.
Difficult to predict from the start, Magdieva did well to fight back from a 2-0 deficit to pull level at 2-2 but Lavrova kept her cool to complete the job (11-8, 13-11, 11-13, 10-12, 11-8, 11-9).
An all-Singapore encounter decided the fate of the men's singles South East Asia event with top seed Pang Yew En Koen and no.3 seed Clarence Chew standing opposite one another.
Khalil Al Mohannadi (pictured), President of the Qatari and Arab Table Tennis Federations, First Vice Presidents of the Asian and International Table Tennis Federations, expressed his happiness with the tremendous organisational success of the series of table tennis tournaments in Doha in March, praising the distinguished technical level of the international and Asian qualifiers, held were at the Ali bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena for a week.
Al Mohannadi said the successful organization affirms the capabilities of Qatar, which has hosted the longest series of different tournaments throughout the history of the game, which strengthens Doha's position in organizing major sporting events.
He added the guests of the tournament and heads of federations have praised the distinguished organisation of the tournaments.
Al Mohannadi explained that the health bubble was very successful and contributed to preserving the safety of all participants, as the tournament competitions did not record any COVID-19 infection among the players or the rest of the participating delegations.
He congratulated the players who qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
MENAFN22032021000063011010ID1101789719
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.