(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
Chinthana Wasala
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The Peninsula
Doha: The World Table tennis (WTT) Star Contender Doha 2025 kicked off at the Lusail Sports Arena yesterday, with 66 players vying for main round spots in the qualifiers.
The WTT Star Contender season opener, features over 180 players in total, competing across men's and women's singles and doubles categories as well as the mixed doubles.
Among the top contenders in the opening round of the qualifying stage, Malta's 21-year-old Kim Taehyun made headlines with a shock win over World No. 92 Deni Kozul.
Ranked over 100 world ranking positions below the Slovenian, World No.191 Taehyun stunned the 27-year-old in straight sets (11-8, 11-7, 11-5) to claim his first win at WTT Star Contender level.
Qatar's hopes in the men's singles qualifying round faced a challenging start as all six local players suffered losses, but 16-year-old Ahmed Korani came close to pulling off an upset, fighting back to reverse an early deficit to take a promising 2-1 lead over World No. 252 Li Yan Jun in a thrilling five-setter.
Jun started strong, winning the first game with a dominant 11-1 score, but Korani put up a valiant effort against the Singaporean, fighting back to take the next two games 11-8 and 11-9.
However, Jun wrapped up the next two games 11-7 and 11-2 to secure the victory and advance to the second round of the qualifying draw.
Essa Al Haddad suffered a straight-sets defeat (3-11, 4-11, 7-11) to Iran's Nima Alamian, while Abdullah Abdulwahhab struggled to match the pace of Hong Kong's Yiu Kwan To, losing 0-3 (6-11, 6-11, 6-11).
Rawad Alnaser was beaten by France's Alexis Kouraichi in straight sets (14-16, 7-11, 4-11), while France's Vincent Picard was too good for Abdulaziz Al Abdulla who lost 11-5, 11-2, 11-5.
Yousif Abdalla managed to pull one game against Czech Republic's Lubomir Jancarik before going down 1-3 (3-11, 11-9, 5-11, 1-11).
Today, Qatar's Maryam Ali faces a formidable opponent in Ukraine's Margaryta Pesotska, currently ranked 92nd globally.
Both players advanced directly to the second round of the qualifiers after receiving byes in the first round.
The winner of the match will progress to face either Chen Min-Hsin of Chinese Taipei or Adina Diaconu of Romania in the third qualifying round.
Later in the day, promising young local talent Sarrinah Shaikh will take on Ng Wing Lam from Hong Kong, who is at the 115th spot in the world rankings.
The winner will face either Sutirtha Mukherjee of India or Yang Ha Eun of South Korea.
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