The president of the Qatar Table Tennis Association (QTTA) Khalil Ahmed al-Mohannadi yesterday announced he will contest for presidency of the Asian Table Tennis Union (ATTU) later this month.
The election will be held during the ATTU Congress to be held on the sidelines of the Asian Table Tennis Championships, set to take place from September 28 to October 5 at Lusail Multipurpose Hall. Al-Mohannadi also serves as the President of Arab Table Tennis Federations and the First Vice President of the ATTU and the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).
“I will compete for the presidency during the Congress which will also elect the vice president. The Asian congress will also decide regional representatives,” al-Mohannadi said yesterday.
Speaking on the upcoming Asian Table Tennis Championships, al-Mohannadi said hosting the big event again after the 2000 edition was an honour for Qatar.  “We are proud to stage the Asian Championships as Qatar is among only 7 countries, which have hosted this event in its 49-year-old history. Qatar is the only country in the West Asia region to host this major competition,” he said.

‘Ready to host WTT Star Contender’
Meanwhile, al-Mohannadi said Qatar was ready to host the second edition of the WTT Star Contender series.
More than 70 athletes from across the globe will start their campaign from the qualifying rounds for the singles and doubles, which take place at the Lusail Multipurpose Hall on Monday and Tuesday.
Winners from the qualifying draw will then advance to the main round of action, which will be held from September 22-25.
Al-Mohannadi explained that the organising committee has completed all the arrangements well in advance, drawing on their experience from hosting the first edition of the event in March earlier this year.
“We are honoured to host the WTT Star Contender for the second time in a row, which enhances the confidence of international sports community in the organisational capabilities of Qatar,” he said
Al-Mohannadi said the health bubble system will be strictly applied for the tournament with officials from Ministry of Public Health, ITTF and QTTA coordinating.  He also revealed that the event is open only to players and officials who are fully vaccinated and they will be subjected to Covid-19 test on the arrival at the airport.
WTT Star Contender Doha follows the highly successful WTT Contender Budapest, the first-ever WTT event held in Europe. Qatar’s third WTT event in 2021 offers 600 ITTF Table Tennis World Ranking points and a $200,000 in prize money.
WTT Star Contender events sit within the third tier of the WTT Series as part of the revamped event structure that WTT, a commercial and events subsidiary of the ITTF has created.
Finland’s Benedek Olah and Singapore’s Clarence Chew are two of the 47 challengers in the men’s singles qualifying draw.
In the women’s singles qualifying draw, French teenager Prithika Pavade, India’s Reeth Tennison and Ukraine’s Solomiya Brateyko are some of the 25 hopeful athletes vying for a place in the main draw.


Lusail Multipurpose Hall will host the WTT Star Contender series and Asian Table Tennis Championships in the next fortnight.
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