Kuwait City, Kuwait, June 7, 2022: The chairman of Qatar Table Tennis Association Umpires, Hassan Al-Amri, has paid fulsome praise to the Olympic Council of Asia for including table tennis in the ongoing OCA Phase Three Development Programme for coaches and referees.
“This is absolutely a fantastic initiative and the OCA must be congratulated,” said Al-Amri, one of 25 referees, or umpires as they call it in table tennis, participating in the six-day course for officials from 12 West Asian National Olympic Committees.
“The world is still recovering from the pandemic and for the last couple of years there has virtually been no sporting action. As such to have a programme like this where coaches and umpires can do a refresher course is just perfect,” said Al-Amri.
One of two blue badge umpires in Qatar - the highest ITTF (International Table Tennis Federation) level an umpire can aspire to – Al-Amri is more fortunate than the rest of the umpires at the course as he has more opportunities to officiate at a high level.
Unlike many other West Asian countries, Qatar plays host to a number of major ITTF events every year including the lucrative Qatar Open which is part of the World Tour.
“We have the Qatar Open which is our flagship, and in addition we also hold other ITTF events giving our local umpires an opportunity to be part of a major international tournament where the world’s best players compete. We also invite other umpires from West Asia,” Al-Amri pointed out.
Table tennis is popular in Qatar according to Al-Amri with large numbers of participants – 12 teams in a local league – resulting in the need for a healthy crop of 40 umpires including around eight women umpires.
“Our association is quite vibrant but we are continuing to promote umpiring and looking to increase our numbers. Along with me there is another umpire from Qatar at this course and we are benefiting from the elevated levels of discussions with our peers from the region.
“I once again pay tribute to the OCA for giving us this opportunity,” Al-Amri added.
