Day: October 3, 2021

DOHA – Currently Deputy President of the International Table Tennis Federation, a member of the recently formed World Table Tennis Board and President of the Qatar Table Tennis Association, Khalil Al-Mohannadi becomes the sixth President of the Asian Table Tennis Union.

Notably, he will hold office in the golden jubilee year; it is now approaching 50 years since, on Sunday 7th May 1972, at a meeting in Beijing the organisation officially superseded the Table Tennis Federation of Asia.

Khalil Al-Mohannadi follows in the footsteps of Japan’s Rizo Kawakami (1972-1974), Hisao Kido (1974-1976) and Atsushi Goto (1976-2001). They were succeeded by China’s Li Furong (2001-2009) and Cai Zhenhua (2009–2021).

Furthermore, the election to the Presidency marks two decades of service to the Asian Table Tennis Union. Khalil Al Mohannadi was elected Deputy President in 2001, a position he held until 2003 and then reassumed in 2009, a role fulfilled until the present day.

It is under his leadership that Qatar has become the focus of major international tournaments. The Qatar Open was first staged in 1994, after the second edition in 1996, one year later in 1997, the tournament joined what was then known as the ITTF Pro Tour, more recently the ITTF World Tour.

Overall, concluding in 2020, a total of 22 editions were staged, Doha becoming the most popular destination of all.

Additionally, thanks to the forward thinking of Khalil Al Mohannadi, Doha was the destination for the Asian Championships in 2000, the World Team Championships in 2004, as well as the ITTF Star Awards Evening and ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in 2016.

More recently in September, Doha hosted the WTT Star Contender tournament and is the current home for the 2021 ITTF-ATTU Asian Championships.

Alongside Khalil Al Mohannadi, the entire Executive Committee of the Asian Table Tennis Union was elected unopposed.

Source: Qatar Olympic Committee

Doha: The Qatar Tennis Squash Badminton Federation (QTSBF) has signed a new partnership contract with QTerminals to sponsor Qatar Classic, PSA World Tour Platinum event, being organized by QTSBF with participation of the world’s top players.

The press conference announcing this partnership was held on Sunday October 3rd at Doha Four Seasons Hotel.

In attendance were the QTSBF Secretary General Tariq Zainal and Neville Bissett – Group Chief Executive Officer of Q-Terminals.

As per this new partnership, QTerminals will be the title sponsor of Qatar Classic, which has attracted the top players over the last several years.

On this occasion, QTSBF Secretary General Tariq Zainal said: “It is my pleasure to announce that QTerminals is the title sponsors of Qatar Classic, PSA World Tour Platinum event.”

“Qatar Classic has become one of the most important tennis tournaments in the region and through the cooperation with our partners, we hope our tournament can reach new levels of success and help promote Doha as a major destination for hosting international sporting events,” Zainal said while speaking at the press conference.

Zainal also emphasized that this partnership reflects the commitment of the QTSBF and QTerminals to develop squash in the state of Qatar and supporting Qatar Classic, which is one of the most prominent squash events in the region and world, will help in a long way in promoting and grooming local talent.

This year’s QTerminals Qatar Classic will take place from October 17-23 at Qatar Squash Federation and will be held as per the Ministry of Public Health guidelines informed Tariq Zainal.

“All the health protocols as mandated by the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) will be in place during the tournament and will be implemented,” added Tariq Zainal about the event which will see 48 of the world’s leading male players battling it out for the $187,500 prize fund.

This year World No.2 Mohamed ElShorbagy, is the top seed of the tournament while British Open winner Paul Coll, is No.2 seed for the tournament, former World Champion Tarek Momen and Marwan, younger brother of Mohamed ElShorbagy are the other top players to watch out in the tournament.

Three Qatari players will also be in action on home soil. Qatar’s No.1, Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi, along with two wild cards Syed Azlan Amjad and Ibrahim Ahmed Al Darwish, both wildcards will battle it out in the tournament.

Source: Qatar Olympic Committee