OTTA keen on developing women’s game in Oman
The Oman Table Tennis Association (OTTA) delivered a visual presentation to International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) on the development of women’s table tennis in the Sultanate.
The presentation was part of the webinar organised on Thursday by the ITTF High Performance and Development unit for the programme ‘My Gender. My Strength’. The webinar came in connection with the Sultanate’s celebration of Omani Women Day annually marked on October 17.
Sajjad Mohammed Baqir, Vicechairman of OTTA, made the presentation on behalf of OTTA and he briefed the participants on the development stages of women’s and girls TT in the country.
Sajad begn with the mention of the government attention on the women sports including table tennis. He wished a happy Omani Women day for all the women players, coaches and umpires.
The OTTA official explained the association’s earlier efforts on the women’s TT development during the Oman Tables Tennis Committee period.
“There was direct coordination among the OTTA, Ministry of Education and Oman School Sports Association (OSSA) to develop TT in the Sultanate at different categories with more focus at junior level and taking the potential stars from schools, universities, clubs and even the elderly of both genders. The project of ‘Women’s Development in Oman’s Table Tennis’ came through an initiative organised between OTTA and OSSA.”
“The execution of the project was through involving the domestic schools and encouraging the junior female students to take part at the Schools TT tournaments. Targets and objectives are set with a timeline of 2018-2021. The targeted groups included female students under 12 years old in all the government and private schools in Oman besides Physical Education teachers in these schools,” he said.
Moving to the project’s partners and the set plan, he said the OTTA had signed an MOU with Ministry of
Education and Oman School Sport Association. “The sponsorship for the project was STAG Company which provided all the equipment and tools. Four years agreement plan was set to develop the domestic women’s TT through STAG TT tournament. The project was started in 2018 and it featured single qualification tournament and one team only advanced from each of the 12 governorates in Oman. The finals had been organised in Muscat.”
“The OTTA had provided the equipment support for the event from STAG besides the coaching sessions delivered by OTTA technical staff. The OTTA had arranged the trophies and cash prizes for the top winners in coordination with the partners,” Sajjad added.
Sajjad shared some statistics and figures of 2018 and 2019. “There was gradual rise in the participants at the STAG TT league. More than 285 schools took part in the league besides participations of 698 students and 290 sports physical teachers. After completion of the 2019 league, more than 15 players were selected for the junior talent centre. The 2020 plan to develop the female students were impacted with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. All the set plans and future initiatives will be moved to new educational year 2020-21,” he pointed out.
Commenting on the future plan, Sajjad said the plan in 2023 is to increase number of women umpires to 30 as the Sultanate will organise the prestigious 2023 ITTF World Veteran Championship. “Also, our plan is to have more female and girls players. The target is to reach to 40 and 50 players in the few following years. Also, three top female players will be selected for the forthcoming international events. Preparing five top domestic women TT coaches to supervise the training programe of girls is another set plan to be accomplished within this three years,” he concluded.
The ITTF officials at the High Performance and Development unit appreciated the Sultanate efforts in developing the women’s game. They affirmed that ITTF will support any initiatives that will ensure the progress of TT in Oman.