Excitement is building as the table tennis world marks a significant milestone – exactly one year from today, the first ball will be served at the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals 2025 in Doha.From May 17-25, 2025, the state-of-the-art Lusail Sports Arena will play host to the world’s top table tennis players, who will compete for the ultimate prize in the sport.This prestigious event marks a triumphant return to Doha, the capital of Qatar, two decades after the city hosted the successful ITTF World Championships in 2004.As the first host in the Middle East region, the 2004 event contributed significantly to the growth of the sport and inspired the next generation of table tennis enthusiasts. The 2025 edition continues Doha’s longstanding association as one of the most established cities in global table tennis, further solidifying its position as a premier destination for international competitions.The ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals 2025 promises to be an incredible spectacle, where the best players in the world will compete at the highest level.There will be a 128-player main draw in both the Men’s and Women’s Singles events, and 64-pair main draws for the Men’s, Women’s, and Mixed Doubles events.The decision to award the championship to Doha was announced following a vote from Member Associations at the Annual General Meeting in December 2022, during the ITTF Summit. Doha won 57 votes against 39 for the other candidate city, Alicante, Spain.Doha is located on the country’s eastern coast and is a destination city for tourists and major sporting events alike.Having been hotspot for major events for almost three decades, the Qatari capital has recently proved itself a key location and launchpad for a new era in table tennis. The WTT Middle East Hub in 2021 marked the first official events of World Table Tennis, successfully holding back-to-back Contender and Star Contender events in March last year. Qatar’s commitment to staging premium blockbuster events guarantees more historic memories will be made when the World Championships Finals lands in Doha in 2025.The recent World Championships Finals have been staged staged in Houston, the US (2021), Chengdu, China (2022), Durban, South Africa (2023) and Busan, South Korea (2024).The championships are broadcasted in more than 200 territories to over 600 million fans.As momentum builds on the global table tennis calendar, all eyes will be on Doha to host an event that continues ITTF’s mission to stage entertainment driven events while maintaining the tradition and history of the championships for both players and fans.Doha will mark the 59th edition of the World Championships.

Barcelona are poised to sack coach Xavi Hernandez just weeks after he made a U-turn and decided to stay at the club, Spanish media reported on Friday.Catalan radio station RAC-1 said president Joan Laporta had decided to sack Xavi, with daily newspaper Sport confirming the news, while AS said Barcelona were already deciding who would replace the coach.In January, Xavi said he would leave at the end of the season but, after a run of strong form, in April he and president Joan Laporta agreed the coach would stay for the next campaign, with his contract expiring in June 2025. However, Laporta did not travel with the team for their 2-0 in at Almeria in La Liga on Thursday, with Spanish media reporting he was angry with Xavi’s pre-match comments.The coach had highlighted Barcelona’s financial difficulties in comparison to the strength of new Spanish champions Real Madrid and other European giants.“Barcelona fans have to understand, we’re not in the same situation (as those clubs),” said Xavi on Wednesday.The coach stood by his words on Thursday when he was asked about Laporta not attending the Almeria match. “They haven’t told me anything personally... We travelled with the sporting vice-president, more directors, all normally,” Xavi said late Thursday. “I said what I think is real, that we will fight for all the trophies, with a lot of hope, with ambition, but that the situation is not easy. We are working very well, the club most of all, to change this situation.”Barcelona won La Liga last season but were not able to defend the title. They went out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals to Paris Saint-Germain and will end the season trophy-less. Real Madrid thrashed Barca in the Spanish Super Cup final while Athletic Bilbao eliminated them in the Copa del Rey.

Three foreign tourists and an Afghan were killed on Friday in a shooting in the popular tourism destination of Bamiyan in central Afghanistan, the interior ministry said.“One Afghan and three foreign nationals were killed” in gunfire on Friday evening in Bamiyan city, interior ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani, told AFP.Another four foreigners and three Afghans were wounded, he added.Qani said the “foreigners were here for tourism”, without giving the nationalities of the foreign victims.According to preliminary information provided by hospital sources, the three foreigners who were killed were Spanish nationals.The wounded were from Norway, Australia, Lithuania and Spain.Diplomatic sources said they were seeking to confirm the information, including the identities of the dead.Security forces have arrested four people in connection with the attack, Qani said.He did not say if there had been multiple shooters.The Taliban government “strongly condemns this crime, expresses its deep feelings to the families of the victims and assures that all the criminals will be found and punished”, Qani said in a statement.A local resident, who did not want to be named, said he “heard the sounds of successive gunshots, and the city streets leading to the site were blocked immediately by the security forces”.Mountainous Bamiyan is home to a Unesco world heritage site and the remains of two giant Buddha statues which were blown up by the Taliban during their previous rule in 2001.The region is Afghanistan’s top tourist destination.The Taliban government has yet to be officially recognised by any country but it has welcomed foreign tourism.Increasing numbers of visitors have travelled to Afghanistan as security has improved since the Taliban ended their insurgency after ousting the Western-backed government in 2021.They holiday without consular support after most embassies were evacuated following the Taliban authorities’ takeover, with Western governments warning against visiting.Deadly attacks on foreigners have been rare in Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power.Arriving in western Herat province on Friday evening, a foreign tourist posted on a WhatsApp group for travellers in Afghanistan that he and others were stopped by the Taliban authorities and told “that because of Bamiyan, we were no longer safe”.“After some time and Google translate, we convinced them to let us go, they said go eat quickly and get off the streets,” the tourist said.The number of bombings and suicide attacks in Afghanistan has reduced dramatically since the Taliban authorities took power.However, a number of armed groups, including Islamic State, (IS) remain a threat.Friday’s attack was among the most serious targeting foreign citizens since 2021.The IS claimed an attack that injured Chinese citizens at a hotel popular with Chinese businessmen in Kabul two years ago.