Doha: The draw for the Qatar 2025 World Table Tennis Championships was held today. The tournament is set to start on May 17 and will continue until May 25, featuring the participation of 640 players. The competition will see 256 players in the singles categories, 256 in the doubles, and 128 in the mixed doubles, culminating in a total of 443 matches.
According to Qatar News Agency, the draw ceremony was attended by HE Secretary General of the Qatar Olympic Committee Jassim bin Rashid Al Buenain, Khalil Al Mohannadi-President of the Qatari, Arab, and Asian Table Tennis Federations and First Vice President of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), and CEO of ITTF Steve Dainton, along with several officials and guests.
The draw process involved Qatari international referee Hassan Al Omari, who is the Deputy Chair of the ITTF Umpires Committee and the chief referee for the tournament. Also participating were Qatar national team player Mohamed Abdulwahab, women’s national team player Aya Mohamed, prom
ising youth player Sultan Al Kuwari, junior national team player Maryam Al Ali, and Swedish legend and Qatar national team coach Peter Karlsson.
The draw began with the five event categories: men’s and women’s singles and doubles, and mixed doubles. The top 32 ranked players in singles were placed directly into the main draw, bypassing the preliminary rounds. The remaining 96 players were randomly drawn to compete in the initial rounds, totaling 128 singles competitors.
In the doubles competition, the draw included 16 pairs based on their world rankings. The remaining 48 pairs will compete in the initial rounds, making a total of 64 pairs. All singles matches will be conducted in a best-of-7 format, while doubles matches will be played in a best-of-5 format.