DOHA: Qatar will stage the 2021 Men’s and Women’s Asian Table Tennis Championships, it was announced Monday.
The Qatar Table Tennis Association (QTTA) confirmed to local daily The Peninsula that the event will be held in September next year.
QTTA has won the hosting rights following the withdrawal of China and India, who were part of the bidding race.
This will be the second time after 2000 that Qatar will be staging the Asian championships.
Khalil bin Ahmed Al Mohannadi, president of QTTA and Arab Table Tennis Federation, said: “We will have the honour to host the best players of the region especially the ones from East Asian countries like China, Japan, India, Hong Kong, China Taipei and South Korea. So it will be like a mini-world championship.”
He added: “We are very happy with the honor that the state of Qatar has been chosen as the hosts for the second time. I thank the members of the General Assembly for choosing us after China and India quit the race.”
Al Mohannadi expressed the hope that the new generation of Qatari table tennis players will benefit from this historic hosting.
“I am confident that our youth come will into contact with the best-ranked players in the region,” Al Mohannadi said. “Also, it will be another opportunity for Qatar to host yet another world-class event. We have top-notch sporting infrastructure in Qatar.”
Doha will also host the next Annual General Assembly of the ITTF during the same week, Al Mohanndi confirmed to the The Peninsula.
