DOHA: The curtain came down today (Thursday) on the Youth Contender Table Tennis Championship – Doha 2026, which was held from 19 to 22 January at the Lusail Hall, with the participation of 170 male and female players representing 28 countries.
The remaining finals for boys and girls in the Under-11, Under-15 and Under-19 categories were contested yesterday amid extremely strong competition.
Qatari players delivered outstanding performances, successfully reaching the podium and confirming the clear progress and growing prominence of Qatari table tennis on the international stage.
The most notable achievement came from Qatar’s Rasha Laghraibi, who claimed the Under-11 girls’ title after defeating Egypt’s Zeina Farouk 3–2 in a thrilling final. Rasha took the first game 11–5, lost the second 6–11, regained the lead with an 11–6 win, before Farouk leveled the match by winning the fourth game 11–9. The decisive fifth game went in favor of Rasha, who sealed the title with an 11–7 victory.
Rasha had earlier finished runner-up in the Under-13 girls’ category, losing the final to Egypt’s Malak Zaki, while her teammate Alya Al-Baz secured third place in the same category. In the Under-13 boys’ event, Rabia Al-Kuwari claimed third place after losing 3–1 to Uganda’s Joseph Sebatindara in the semifinals.
In the Under-11 boys’ category, promising youngster Ahmed Al-Abdullah earned third place after reaching the semifinals, where he lost 3–1 to eventual champion Tafai Smarwira, who went on to defeat Saudi Arabia’s Rayan Al-Munjomi 3–0 in the final.
In the Under-15 boys’ competition, Abdulaziz Al-Abdullah finished third after losing in the semifinals to Malaysia’s Lee Yong Ren 3–0 (11–2, 11–9, 11–7).
Elsewhere, the Under-19 girls’ final was an all-Indian affair, with Cinderella Das defeating compatriot Devanshi Bhomik 3–1. Meanwhile, Malaysia’s Lee Yong Ren captured the Under-15 boys’ title with a 3–0 win over India’s Aditya Das.
