Three Afghan athletes will compete in WTT Star Contender Doha and the Asian Table Tennis Championships when the two events will be held later this month at the Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar.  
Mustafa Bakhtiyari and Mohamed Hosseini will participate in the men’s singles and doubles qualifying rounds, whilst compatriot Behrooz Daneshmand will feature in the men’s singles qualifying round. WTT Star Contender Doha will be held from September 20-25, with the Asian Table Tennis Championships starting the following week on September 28 and concluding on October 5.
The Qatar Table Tennis Association (QTTA), as many times before, proved their devotion to the empowerment of Table Tennis and reacted with the noblest gesture – the Afghan trio that was originally planned to attend the Asian Championships were granted wildcard spots enabling them to be part of a stellar field at WTT Star Contender Doha. The event features Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Jeon Jihee from the Republic of Korea, as the top seeds for the men’s and women’s singles competitions respectively.
President of Qatar Table Tennis Association and ITTF Deputy President, Khalil al-Mohannadi, said: “In times like this, we want to provide an opportunity for our Afghan table tennis athletes to compete and continue their professional table tennis journey. We are delighted to award them wildcards where they now have the opportunity to compete against some of the best table tennis players in the world. We are also assisting them with their visa and travel documents so that they will be ready to join us in Qatar as we get ready to showcase table tennis to the world again.”
Heleena Kakar, President of the Afghanistan Table Tennis Federation (ATTF), was grateful for the solidarity the international table tennis community has shown for her country and looks forward to seeing her athletes step up to the tables at the Lusail Sports Arena.