MINSK, 16 March (BelTA) – The ITTF World Singles Qualification Tournament is underway in Doha, Qatar. The event serves as a qualifier for the 2020 Olympic Games, BelTA has learned.
On 15 March, Belarus' Aleksandr Khanin (ranked 154 in the world) lost to world number 115 Adam Szudi of Hungary 2-4 in the third round. The Belarusian took a solid win, 4-0, over Qatar's world number 368 Mohammed Abdulwahhab and showed the same result against Czech's world number 51 Pavel Sirucek of the Czech Republic.
In the women's singles event, Belarus' world number 104 Nadezhda Pogdanova also lost in the third round to Russia's world number 46 Polina Mikhailova 1-4. In the opener the Belarusian edged Ukraine's world number 69 Ganna Gaponova 4-3. She demonstrated the same result in the second round against world number 137 Sabina Surjan of Serbia. Belarus' Daria Trigolos (ranked 102 in the world) went off with a victory over Kenya's world number 705 Lydia Setey and lost to world number 44 Xiaoxin Yang of Monaco in the second round.
Competing in the World Singles Qualification Tournament are 73 men, with four Olympic berths at stake. Five out of 60 women competing in Doha will qualified for the Olympics. The competitions in Doha will be over on 17 March.
Leader of the Belarusian team Vladimir Samsonov withdrew in Qatar due to an injury and is going to try its luck at the European Olympic Singles Qualification Tournament in Portugal on 21-25 April.
