03 Nov 2024
Ahmed Korani and Yousif Abdalla claimed the under-17 and under-15 titles, respectively, at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Youth Contender tournament in Ismailia, Egypt.
Korani, who is in grade 11, put on an impressive performance to clinch the unde-17 category.
He won both his group games to progress to the knockout stages and eventually beat Egypt’s Seifeldin Kassem 3-0 in the final.
In the under-15’s, it was a similar story for Abdalla, who overcame another Egyptian, Abdelmalk Elsayed, 3-0 in his final to claim the title.
A third student-athlete Essa Al Haddad, who is in grade 9, also gained more valuable tournament experience as he took part in both the under-13 and under-15 categories.
After a busy few months of events, the tournament in Egypt was the final WTT Youth Contender of the year for the Aspire student-athletes, giving them all a chance to catch up on their academic development.
The players will also be representing their local clubs in the ongoing domestic league, and there are also the West Asia Club Championships in Doha from November 13 to 16.
As well as impressing at the WTT events, 16-year-old Korani has made an impact in Serbia, where he spent time training with Aspire’s head table tennis coach, Peter Karlsson.
He also played for a Serbian club, who were impressed with his performances and have invited him back to play again in the future.